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THE 

STKENUOUS  LIFE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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https://archive.org/details/strenuouslife01  roos 


Lull'll 


Cvpimoku  IWB;  Roetwocn1,  H.  7, 


THE 

STRENUOUS  LIFE 

V \ 

ESSAYS  AND 
ADDRESSES 


BY 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CENTURY  CO. 
1902 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
The  Outlook  Company. 
Copyright,  1900,  by 
The  Churchman  Co, 
Copyright,  1899,  by 
The  S.  S.  McClure  Co. 
Copyright,  1899,  1900,  1901,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


The  De  Vinne  Press. 


..  ^1  / 

• - ■:  ' 


How  dull  it  is  to  pause,  to  make  an  end, 

To  rust  unbumish’d,  not  to  shine  in  use ! 

As  tho’  to  breathe  were  life.  Life  piled  on  Ufe 
Were  all  too  little,  and  of  one  to  me 
Little  remains : but  every  hour  is  saved 
From  that  eternal  silence,  something  more, 

A bringer  of  new  things ; and  vile  it  were 
For  some  three  sims  to  store  and  hoard  myself, 
And  this  gray  spirit  yearning  in  desire 
To  follow  knowledge  like  a sinking  star. 
Beyond  the  utmost  bound  of  human  thought. 


. . . My  mariners. 

Souls  that  have  toil’d,  and  wrought,  and  thought  with  me  — 
That  ever  with  a frolic  welcome  took 
The  thunder  and  the  sunshine,  and  opposed 
Free  hearts,  free  foreheads  — you  and  I are  old ; 

Old  age  hath  yet  his  honor  and  his  toil ; 

Death  closes  all : but  something  ere  the  end, 

Some  work  of  noble  note,  may  yet  be  done, — 


Push  off,  and  sitting  well  in  order  smite 
The  sounding  furrows ; for  my  purpose  holds 
To  sail  beyond  the  sunset,  and  the  baths 
Of  all  the  western  stars,  imtil  I die. 

Tennyson’s  “Ulysses.” 


Ja  ! diesem  Sinne  bin  ich  ganz  ergeben, 

Dass  ist  der  Weisheit  letzter  Schluss; 

Nur  der  verdient  sich  Freiheit  wie  das  Leben, 

Der  taglich  sie  erobem  muss. 

Und  so  verbringt,  umrungen  von  Gefahr, 

Hier  Kiudheit,  Mann  und  Greis  sein  tiichtig  Jahr. 
Solch’  ein  Gewimmel  mocht’  ich  sehn, 

Auf  freiem  Grund  mit  freiem  Volke  stehn. 

Goethe’s  “Faust.” 

Executive  Mansion,  Albany,  N.  Y., 

September,  1900. 


157^5' 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


The  Strenuous  Life 1 

Expansion  and  Peace  ....  25 

Latitude  and  Longitude  among  Reformers  41 
Fellow-feeling  as  a Political  Factor  . 65 

Cmc  Helpfulness 91 

Character  and  Success  ....  113 
...  The  Eighth  and  Ninth  Commandments  in 

Politics 125 

The  Best  and  the  Good  ....  135 
Promise  and  Performance  . . . 143 

The  American  Boy 155 

Military  Preparedness  and  Unprepared- 
ness   167 

Admiral  Dewey 189 

Grant 207 

The  Two  Americas 229 

Manhood  and  Statehood  . . • 245 

Brotherhood  and  the  Heroic  Virtues  . 263 

National  Duties 279 

The  Labor  Question 301 

Christian  Citizenship  ....  321 


: 


r 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


Speech  before  the  Hamilton  Club, 
Chicago,  April  10, 1899 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


IN  speaking  to  yon,  men  of  the  greatest 
city  of  the  West,  men  of  the  State 
which  gave  to  the  country  Lincoln  and 
Grant,  men  who  preeminently  and  distinctly 
embody  aU  that  is  most  American  in  the 
American  character,  I wish  to  preach,  not 
the  doctrine  of  ignoble  ease,  but  the  doctrine  j 
of  the  strenuous  life,  the  life  of  toil  and  ^ 
effort,  of  labor  and  strife;  to  preach  that 
highest  form  of  success  which  comes,  not  to 
the  man  who  desires  mere  easy  peace,  but  to 
the  man  who  does  not  shrink  from  danger, 
from  hardship,  or  from  bitter  toil,  and  who  out 
of  these  wins  the  splendid  ultimate  triumph. 

A life  of  slothful  ease,  a life  of  that  peace 
which  springs  merely  from  lack  either  of 
desire  or  of  power  to  strive  after  great  things, 
is^s  little  worthy  of  a nation  as  of  an  indi- 
vidual. I ask  only  that  what  every  self- 
respecting  American  demands  from  himself 
and  from  his  sons  shall  be  demanded  of  the 
American  nation  as  a whole.  Who  among 
you  would  teach  your  boys  that  ease,  that 


2 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


peace,  is  to  be  the  first  consideration  in  their 
eyes — to  be  the  ultimate  goal  after  which 
they  strive?  You  men  of  Chicago  have 
made  this  city  great,  you  men  of  Illinois 
have  done  your  share,  and  more  than  your 
share,  in  making  America  great,  because  you 
neither  preach  nor  practise  such  a doctrine. 
You  work  yourselves,  and  you  bring  up  your 
sons  to  work.  If  you  are  rich  and  are  worth 
your  salt,  you  will  teach  your  sons  that 
though  they  may  have  leisure,  it  is  not  to 
be  spent  in  idleness ; for  wisely  used  leisure 
merely  means  that  those  who  possess  it,  being 
free  from  the  necessity  of  working  for  their 
livelihood,  are  all  the  more  bound  to  carry 
on  some  kind  of  non-remunerative  work  in 
science,  in  letters,  in  art,  in  exploration,  in 
historical  research— work  of  the  type  we 
most  need  in  this  country,  the  successful 
carrying  out  of  which  reflects  most  honor 
upon  the  nation.  We  do  not  admire  the 
man  of  timid  peace.  We  admire  the  man 
who  embodies  victorious  effort;  the  man 
who  never  wrongs  his  neighbor,  who  is 
prompt  to  help  a friend,  but  who  has  those 
virile  qualities  necessary  to  win  in  the  stern 
strife  of  actual  life.  It  is  hard  to  fail,  but 
it  is  worse  never  to  have  tried  to  succeed. 
In  this  life  we  get  nothing  save  by  effort. 
Freedom  from  effort  in  the  present  merely 
means  that  there  has  been  stored  up  effort 


THE  STEENUOUS  LIFE 


3 


in  the  past.  A man  can  be  freed  from  the 
necessity  of  work  only  by  the  fact  that  he 
or  his  fathers  before  him  have  worked  to 
good  purpose.  If  the  freedom  thus  pur- 
chased is  used  aright,  and  the  man  still 
does  actual  work,  though  of  a different 
kind,  whether  as  a writer  or  a general, 
whether  in  the  field  of  politics  or  in  the 
field  of  exploration  and  adventure,  he  shows 
he  deserves  his  good  fortune.  But  if  he 
treats  this  period  of  freedom  from  the  need 
of  actual  labor  as  a period,  not  of  prepara- 
tion, but  of  mere  enjoyment,  even  though 
perhaps  not  off  vicious  enjoyment,  he  shows 
that  he  is  simply  a cumberer  of  the  earth’s 
surface,  and  he  surely  unfits  himself  to  hold 
his  own  with  his  fellows  if  the  need  to  do 
so  should  again  arise.  A mere  life  of  ease 
is  not  in  the  end  a very  satisfactory  life,' 
and,  above  all,  it  is  a life  which  ultimately; 
unfits  those  who  follow  it  for  serious  work' 
in  the  world 

In  the  last  analysis  a healthy  state  can 
exist  only  when  the  men  and  women  who 
make  it  up  lead  clean,  vigorous,  healthy  lives ; 
when  the  children  are  so  trained  that  they 
shall  endeavor,  not  to  shirk  difficulties,  but 
to  overcome  them ; not  to  seek  ease,  but  to 
know  how  to  wrest  triumph  from  toil  and 
risk.  The  man  must  be  glad  to  do  a man’s 
work,  to  dare  and  endure  and  to  labor;  to 


4 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


keep  himself,  and  to  keep  those  dependent 
upon  him.  The  woman  must  he  the  house- 
wife, the  helpmeet  of  the  homemaker,  the 
wise  and  fearless  mother  of  many  healthy 
children.  In  one  of  Daudet’s  powerful  and 
melancholy  books  he  speaks  of  “the  fear 
of  maternity,  the  haunting  terror  of  the 
young  wife  of  the  present  day.”  When  such 
words  can  be  truthfully  written  of  a nation, 
that  nation  is  rotten  to  the  heart’s  core. 
When  men  fear  work  or  fear  righteous  war, 
when  women  fear  motherhood,  they  tremble 
on  the  brink  of  doom ; and  well  it  is  that 
they  should  vanish  from  the  earth,  where 
'v  they  are  fit  subjects  for  the  scorn  of  all  men 
and  women  who  are  themselves  strong  and 
brave  and  high-minded. 

As  it  is  with  the  individual,  so  it  is  with 
the  nation.  It  is  a base  untruth  to  say  that 
happy  is  the  nation  that  has  no  history. 
Thrice  happy  is  the  nation  that  has  a glori- 
ous history.  Far  better  it  is  to  dare  mighty 
things,  to  win  glorious  triumphs,  even 
though  checkered  by  failure,  than  to  take 
rank  with  those  poor  spirits  who  neither 
enjoy  much  nor  suffer  much,  because  they 
live  in  the  gray  twilight  that  knows  not 
victory  nor  defeat.  If  in  1861  the  men  who 
loved  the  Union  had  believed  that  peace 
was  the  end  of  all  things,  and  war  and  strife 
the  worst  of  aU  things,  and  had  acted  up  to 


THE  STEENUOUS  LIFE 


6 


their  belief,  we  would  have  saved  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  lives,  we  would  have  saved 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars.  Moreover, 
besides  saving  all  the  blood  and  treasure  we 
then  lavished,  we  would  have  prevented 
the  heartbreak  of  many  women,  the  dis- 
solution of  many  homes,  and  we  would 
have  spared  the  country  those  months  of 
gloom  and  shame  when  it  seemed  as  if  our 
armies  marched  only  to  defeat.  We  could 
have  avoided  all  this  suffering  simply  by 
shrinking  from  strife.  And  if  we  had  thus 
avoided  it,  we  would  have  shown  that  we 
were  weaklings,  and  that  we  were  unfit  to 
stand  among  the  great  nations  of  the  earth. 
Thank  God  for  the  iron  in  the  blood  of  our 
fathers,  the  men  who  upheld  the  wisdom  of 
Lincoln,  and  bore  sword  or  rifle  in  the 
armies  of  Grant!  Let  us,  the  children  of 
the  men  who  proved  themselves  equal  to 
the  mighty  days,  let  us,  the  children  of  the' 
men  who  carried  the  great  Civil  War  to  a 
triumphant  conclusion,  praise  the  God  of  I 
OUT  fathers  that  the  ignoble  counsels  of' 
peace  were  rejected;  that  the  suffering  and; 
loss,  the  blackness  of  sorrow  and  despair,: 
were  unflinchingly  faced,  and  the  years  of 
strife  endured ; for  in  the  end  the  slave  was , 
freed,  the  Union  restored,  and  the  mighty. 
American  republic  placed  once  more  as  a 
helmeted  queen  among  nations. 


6 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


We  of  this  generation  do  not  have  to  face 
a task  such  as  that  our  fathers  faced,  but 
we  have  our  tasks,  and  woe  to  us  if  we  fail 
to  perform  them ! We  cannot,  if  we  would,  ' 
play  the^rt  ofj^lhina,  and  d)e  eontent  to  rot 
b^ThcEes  in  ignoble  ease  within  our  borders, 
taking  no  interest  in  what  goes  on  beyond 
them,  gunk  in  a serambling  commercialism; 
heedless  of  the  hi^br  life^tEe  life  of  aspira- 
tion, of  toil  and  risk,  busying  ourselves  only 
with  the  wants  of  our  bodies  for  the  day,  until 
suddenly  we  should  find,  beyond  a shadow 
of  question,  what  China  has  already  found, 
that  in  this  world  the  nation  that  has  trained 
itself  to  a career  of  unwarlike  and  isolated 
ease  is  bound,  in  the  end,  to  go  down  before 
other  nations  which  have  not  lost  the  manly 
and  adventurous  qualities.  If  we  are  to  be 
a really  great  people,  we  must  strive  in  good 
faith  to  play  a great  part  in  the  world.  We 
cannot  avoid  meeting  great  issues.  All  that 
we  can  determine  for  ourselves  is  whether 
we  shall  meet  them  well  or  ill.  In  1898  we 
could  not  help  being  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  problem  of  war  with  Spain.  All 
we  could  decide  was  whether  we  should 
shrink  like  cowards  from  the  contest,  or 
enter  into  it  as  beseemed  a brave  and  high- 
spirited  people ; and,  once  in,  whether  failure 
or  success  should  crown  our  banners.  So  it 
is  now.  W e cannot  avoid  the  responsibilities 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


7 


that  confront  ns  in  Hawaii,  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico,  and  the  Philippines.  All  we  can  de- 
cide is  whether  we  shall  meet  them  in  a way 
that  will  redound  to  the  national  credit,  or 
whether  we  shall  make  of  our  dealings  with 
these  new  problems  a dark  and  shameful 
page  in  our  history.  To  refuse  to  deal  with 
them  at  all  merely  amounts  to  dealing  with 
them  badly.  We  have  a given  problem  to 
solve.  If  we  undertake  the  solution,  there 
is,  of  course,  always  danger  that  we  may 
not  solve  it  aright ; but  to  refuse  to  under- 
take the  solution  simply  renders  it  certain 
that  we  cannot  possibly  solve  it  aright.  The 
timid  man,  the  lazy  man,  the  man  who  dis- 
trusts his  country,  the  over-civilized  man, 
who  has  lost  the  great  fighting,  masterful 
virtues,  the  ignorant  man,  and  the  man  of 
dull  mind,  whose  soul  is  incapable  of  feeling 
the  mighty  lift  that  thrills  “ stern  men  with 
empires  in  their  brains  ” — all  these,  of  course, 
shrink  from  seeing  the  nation  undertake  its 
new  duties;  shiink  from  seeing  us  build  a 
navy  and  an  army  adequate  to  our  needs; 
shrink  from  seeing  us  do  our  share  of  the 
world’s  work,  by  bringing  order  out  of  chaos 
in  the  great,  fair  tropic  islands  from  which 
the  valor  of  our  soldiers  and  sailors  has 
driven  the  Spanish  flag.  These  are  the  men 
who  fear  the  strenuous  life,  who  fear  the 
only  national  life  which  is  really  worth  lead- 


8 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


ing.  They  believe  in  that  cloistered  life 
which  saps  the  hardy  virtues  in  a nation,  as 
it  saps  them  in  the  individual ; or  else  they 
are  wedded  to  that  base  spirit  of  gain  and 
greed  which  recognizes  in  commercialism 
the  be-all  and  end-all  of  national  life,  instead 
of  realizing  that,  though  an  indispensable 
element,  it  is,  after  all,  but  one  of  the  many 
elements  thgt  go  to  make  up  true  national 
greatness.  [No  country  can  long  endure  if  its 
foundations  are  not  laid  deep  in  the  material 
prosperity  which  comes  from  thrift,  from 
business  energy  and  enterprise,  from  hard, 
unsparing  effort  in  the  fields  of  industrial 
activity;  but  neither  was  any  nation  ever 
yet  truly  great  if  it  relied  upon  material 
prosperity  alone.  All  honor  must  be  paid  i 
to  the  architects  of  our  material  prosperity,  ^ 
to  the  great  captains  of  industry  who  have 
built  our  factories  and  our  railroads,  to  the 
strong  men  who  toil  for  wealth  with  brain 
or  hand ; for  great  is  the  debt  of  the  nation 
to  these  and  their  kind.  But  our  debt  is  yet , 
greater  to  the  men  whose  highest  type  is  to 
be  found  in  a statesman  like  Lincoln,  a sol- 
dier like  G-rant.  They  showed  by  their  lives 
^ that  they  recognized  the  law  of  work,  the 
law  of  strife ; they  toiled  to  win  a competence 
for  themselves  and  those  dependent  upon 
them ; but  they  recognized  that  there  were 
■ yet  other  and  even  loftier  duties — duties  to 
the  nation  and  duties  to  the  race. 


THE  STEENHOUS  LIFE 


9 


We  cannot  sit  linddled  within  our  own 
borders  and  avow  ourselves  merely  an  as- 
semblage of  well-to-do  hucksters  who  care 
nothing  for  what  happens  beyond.  Such  a 
policy  would  defeat  even  its  own  end ; for  as 
the  nations  grow  to  have  ever  wider  and 
wider  interests,  and  are  brought  into  closer 
and  closer  contact,  if  we  are  to  hold  our  own 
in  the  struggle  for  naval  and  commercial 
supremacy,  we  must  build  up  our  power 
without  our  own  borders.  We  must  build 
the  isthmian  canal,  and  we  must  grasp  the 
points  of  vantage  which  will  enable  us  to 
have  our  say  in  deciding  the  destiny  of  the 
oceans  of  the  East  and  the  West. 

So  much  for  the  commercial  side.  From 
the  standpoint  of  international  honor  the 
argument  is  even  stronger.  The  guns  that 
thundered  off  Manila  and  Santiago  left  us 
echoes  of  glory,  but  they  also  left  us  a legacy 
of  duty.  If  we  drove  out  a medieval  tyranny 
only  to  make  room  for  savage  anarchy,  we 
had  better  not  have  begun  the  task  at  all. 
It  is  worse  than  idle  to  say  that  we  have  no 
duty  to  perform,  and  can  leave  to  their  fates 
the  islands  we  have  conquered.  Such  a 
course  would  be  the  course  of  infamy.  It 
would  be  followed  at  once  by  utter  chaos  in 
the  wretched  islands  themselves.  Some 
stronger,  manlier  power  would  have  to  step 
in  and  do  the  work,  and  we  would  have 
shown  ourselves  weaklings,  unable  to  carry 


10 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


to  successful  completion  the  labors  that  great 
and  high-spirited  nations  are  eager  to  under- 
take. 

The  work  must  be  done;  we  cannot  es- 
cape our  responsibility ; and  if  we  are  worth 
our  salt,  we  shall  be  glad  of  the  chance  to 
do  the  work — glad  of  the  chance  to  show 
ourselves  equal  to  one  of  the  great  tasks  set 
modern  civilization.  But  let  us  not  deceive 
ourselves  as  to  the  importance  of  the  task. 
Let  us  not  be  misled  by  vainglory  into 
underestimating  the  strain  it  will  put  on 
our  powers.  Above  all,  let  us,  as  we  value 
our  own  self-respect,  face  the  responsibilities 
with  proper  seriousness,  courage,  and  high 
resolve.  We  must  demand  the  highest  order 
of  integrity  and  ability  in  our  public  men 
who  are  to  grapple  with  these  new  problems. 
We  must  hold  to  a rigid  accountability  those 
public  servants  who  show  unfaithfulness  to 
the  interests  of  the  nation  or  inability  to 
rise  to  the  high  level  of  the  new  demands 
upon  our  strength  and  our  resources. 

Jot  course  we  must  remember  not  to  judge 
any  public  servant  by  any  one  act,  and  es- 
pecially should  we  beware  of  attacking  the 
men  who  are  merely  the  occasions  and  not 
the  causes  of  disaster.  Let  me  illustrate 
what  I mean  by  the  army  and  the  navy.  If 
twenty  years  ago  we  had  gone  to  war,  we 
should  have  found  the  navy  as  absolutely 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


11 


unprepared  as  the  army.  At  that  time  our 
ships  could  not  have  encountered  with  suc- 
cess the  fleets  of  Spain  any  more  than  now- 
adays we  can  put  untrained  soldiers,  no 
matter  how  brave,  who  are  armed  with 
archaic  black-powder  weapons,  against  well- 
drilled  regulars  armed  with  the  highest  type 
of  modern  repeating  rifle.  But  in  the  early 
eighties  the  attention  of  the  nation  became 
directed  to  our  naval  needs.  Congress  most 
wisely  made  a series  of  appropriations  to 
build  up  a new  navy,  and  under  a succession 
of  able  and  patriotic  secretaries,  of  both 
political  parties,  the  navy  was  gradually 
built  up,  until  its  material  became  equal  to 
its  splendid  personnel,  with  the  result  that  in 
the  summer  of  1898  it  leaped  to  its  proper 
place  as  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  formid- 
able flghting  navies  in  the  entire  world.  We 
rightly  pay  all  honor  to  the  men  controlling 
the  navy  at  the  time  it  won  these  great 
deeds,  honor  to  Secretary  Long  and  Admiral 
Dewey,  to  the  captains  who  handled  the 
ships  in  action,  to  the  daring  lieutenants 
who  braved  death  in  the  smaller  craft,  and 
to  the  heads  of  bureaus  at  Washington  who 
saw  that  the  ships  were  so  commanded,  so 
armed,  so  equipped,  so  well  engined,  as  to 
insure  the  best  results.  But  let  us  also  keep 
ever  in  mind  that  all  of  this  would  not  have 
availed  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  wisdom  of 


12 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


the  men  who  during  the  preceding  fifteen 
years  had  built  up  the  navy.  Keep  in  mind 
the  secretaries  of  the  navy  during  those 
years;  keep  in  mind  the  senators  and  con- 
gressmen who  by  their  votes  gave  the  money 
necessary  to  build  and  to  armor  the  ships, 
to  construct  the  great  guns,  and  to  train  the 
crews;  remember  also  those  who  actually 
did  build  the  ships,  the  armor,  and  the  guns ; 
and  remember  the  admirals  and  captains 
who  handled  battle-ship,  cruiser,  and  tor- 
pedo-boat on  the  high  seas,  alone  and  in 
squadrons,  developing  the  seamanship,  the 
gunnery,  and  the  power  of  acting  together, 
which  their  successors  utilized  so  gloriously 
at  Manila  and  off  Santiago.  And,  gentle- 
men, remember  the  converse,  too.  Eemem- 
ber  that  justice  has  two  sides.  Be  just  to 
those  who  built  up  the  navy,  and,  for  the 
sake  of  the  future  of  the  country,  keep  in 
/ mind  those  who  opposed  its  building  up. 
y Read  the  Congressional  Record.”  Find  out 
the  senators  and  congressmen  who  opposed 
the  grants  for  building  the  new  ships ; who 
opposed  the  purchase  of  armor,  without 
which  the  ships  were  worthless;  who  op- 
posed any  adequate  maintenance  for  the 
Navy  Department,  and  strove  to  cut  down 
the  number  of  men  necessary  to  man  our 
fleets.  The  men  who  did  these  things  were 
one  and  all  working  to  bring  disaster  on  the 


THE  STEENUOUS  LIFE 


13 


country.  They  have  no  share  in  the  glory 
of  Manila,  in  the  honor  of  Santiago.  They 
have  no  cause  to  feel  proud  of  the  valor  of 
our  sea-captains,  of  the  renown  of  our  flag. 
Their  motives  may  or  may  not  have  been 
good,  but  their  acts  were  heavily  fraught 
■with  evil.  They  did  ill  for  the  national 
honor,  and  we  won  in  spite  of  their  sinister 
opposition. 

Now,  apply  all  this  to  our  public  men  of 
to-day.  Our  army  has  never  been  built  up 
as  it  should  be  built  up.  I shall  not  dis- 
cuss with  an  audience  like  this  the  puerile 
suggestion  that  a nation  of  seventy  millions 
of  freemen  is  in  danger  of  losing  its  liberties 
from  the  existence  of  an  army  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  men,  three  fourths  of  whom 
will  be  employed  in  certain  foreign  islands, 
in  certain  coast  fortresses,  and  on  Indian 
reservations.  No  man  of  good  sense  and 
stout  heart  can  take  such  a proposition 
seriously.  If  we  are  such  weaklings  as  the 
proposition  implies,  then  we  are  unworthy 
of  freedom  in  any  event.  To  no  body  of 
men  in  the  United  States  is  the  country  so 
much  indebted  as  to  the  splendid  officers  and 
enlisted  men  of  the  regular  army  and  na’vy. 
There  is  no  body  from  which  the  country 
has  less  to  fear,  and  none  of  which  it  should 
be  prouder,  none  which  it  should  be  more 
anxious  to  upbuild. 


14 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


Our  army  needs  complete  reorganization, 
— not  merely  enlarging, — and  the  reorgani- 
zation can  only  come  as  the  result  of  legis- 
lation. A proper  general  staff  should 
he  established,  and  the  positions  of  ord- 
nance, commissary,  and  quartermaster 
officers  should  be  filled  by  detail  from  the 
line.  Above  all,  the  army  must  be  given 
the  chance  to  exercise  in  large  bodies. 
Never  again  should  we  see,  as  we  saw  in 
the  Spanish  war,  major-generals  in  com- 
mand of  divisions  who  had  never  before 
commanded  three  companies  together  in  the 
field.  Yet,  incredible  to  relate.  Congress 
has  shown  a queer  inability  to  learn  some 
of  the  lessons  of  the  war.  There  were 
large  bodies  of  men  in  both  branches 
who  opposed  the  declaration  of  war,  who 
opposed  the  ratification  of  peace,  who  op- 
posed the  upbuilding  of  the  army,  and  who 
even  opposed  the  purchase  of  armor  at  a 
reasonable  price  for  the  battle-ships  and 
cruisers,  thereby  putting  an  absolute  stop 
to  the  building  of  any  new  fighting-ships 
for  the  navy.  If,  during  the  years  to  come, 
any  disaster  should  befall  our  arms,  afloat 
or  ashore,  and  thereby  any  shame  come  to 
the  United  States,  remember  that  the  blame 
will  lie  upon  the  men  whose  names  appear 
upon  the  roll-calls  of  Congress  on  the  wrong 
side  of  these  great  questions.  On  them  will 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


15 


lie  the  burden  of  any  loss  of  our  soldiers  and 
sailors,  of  any  dishonor  to  the  flag;  and 
upon  you  and  the  people  of  this  country 
will  lie  the  blame  if  you  do  not  repudiate, 
in  no  unmistakable  way,  what  these  men 
have  done.  The  blame  will  not  rest  upon 
the  untrained  commander  of  untried  troops, 
upon  the  civil  officers  of  a department  the 
organization  of  which  has  been  left  utterly 
inadequate,  or  upon  the  admiral  with  an 
insufficient  number  of  ships;  but  upon  the 
public  men  who  have  so  lamentably  failed 
in  forethought  as  to  refuse  to  remedy  these 
evils  long  in  advance,  and  upon  the  nation 
that  stands  behind  those  public  men. 

So,  at  the  present  hour,  no  small  share  of 
the  responsibility  for  the  blood  shed  in  the 
Philippines,  the  blood  of  our  brothers,  and 
the  blood  of  their  wild  and  ignorant  foes, 
lies  at  the  thresholds  of  those  who  so  long 
delayed  the  adoption  of  the  treaty  of  peace, 
and  of  those  who  by  their  worse  than  foolish 
words  deliberately  invited  a savage  people/ 
to  plunge  into  a war  fraught  with  sure  dis- 
aster for  them — a war,  too,  in  which  our  own 
brave  men  who  follow  the  flag  must  pay  with 
their  blood  for  the  silly,  mock  humanitarian- 
ism  of  the  prattlers  who  sit  at  home  in  peace. 

The  army  and  the  navy  are  the  sword  and 
the  shield  which  this  nation  must  carry  if 
she  is  to  do  her  duty  among  the  nations  of 


16 


THE  STEENUOUS  LDTE 


the  earth— if  she  is  not  to  stand  merely  as 
the  China  of  the  western  hemisphere.  Our 
proper  conduct  toward  the  tropic  islands  we 
have  wrested  from  Spain  is  merely  the  form 
which  our  duty  has  taken  at  the  moment. 
Of  course  we  are  bound  to  handle  the  affairs 
of  our  own  household  well.  We  must  see 
that  there  is  civic  honesty,  civic  cleanliness, 
civic  good  sense  in  our  home  administration 
of  city,  State,  and  nation.  We  must  strive 
for  honesty  in  office,  for  honesty  toward  the 
creditors  of  the  nation  and  of  the  individual ; 
for  the  widest  freedom  of  individual  initia- 
tive where  possible,  and  for  the  wisest  con- 
trol of  individual  initiative  where  it  is  hostile 
to  the  welfare  of  the  many.  But  because 
we  set  our  own  household  in  order  we  are 
not  thereby  excused  from  playing  our  part 
in  the  great  affairs  of  the  world.  A man’s 
first  duty  is  to  his  own  home,  but  he  is  not 
thereby  excused  from  doing  his  duty  to  the 
f State;  for  if  he  fails  in  this  second  duty  it 
is  under  the  penalty  of  ceasing  to  be  a free- 
man. In  the  same  way,  while  a nation’s 
first  duty  is  within  its  own  borders,  it  is  not 
thereby  absolved  from  facing  its  duties  in 
the  world  as  a whole ; and  if  it  refuses  to  do 
so,  it  merely  forfeits  its  right  to  struggle  for 
a place  among  the  peoples  that  shape  the 
destiny  of  mankind. 

In  the  West  Indies  and  the  Philippines 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


17 


alike  we  are  confronted  by  most  difficult 
problems.  It  is  cowardly  to  shrink  from 
solving  them  in  the  proper  way ; for  solved 
they  must  be,  if  not  by  us,  then  by  some 
stronger  and  more  manful  race.  If  we  are 
too  weak,  too  selfish,  or  too  foolish  to  solve 
them,  some  bolder  and  abler  people  must 
undertake  the  solution.  Personally,  I am 
far  too  firm  a believer  in  the  greatness  of 
my  country  and  the  power  of  my  country- 
men to  admit  for  one  moment  that  we  shall 
ever  be  driven  to  the  ignoble  alternative. 

The  problems  are  different  for  the  different 
islands.  Porto  Rico  is  not  large  enough  to 
stand  alone.  We  must  govern  it  wisely  and 
well,  primarily  in  the  interest  of  its  own 
people.  Cuba  is,  in  my  judgment,  entitled 
ultimately  to  settle  for  itself  whether  it  shall 
be  an  independent  state  or  an  integral  por- 
tion of  the  mightiest  of  republics.  But  until 
order  and  stable  liberty  are  secured,  we  must 
remain  in  the  island  to  insure  them,  and  in- 
finite tact,  judgment,  moderation,  and  cour- 
age must  be  shown  by  our  military  and  civil 
representatives  in  keeping  the  island  paci- 
fied, in  relentlessly  stamping  out  brigandage, 
in  protecting  all  alike,  and  yet  in  showing 
proper  recognition  to  the  men  who  have 
fought  for  Cuban  liberty.  The  Philippines 
offer  a yet  graver  problem.  Their  popula- 
tion includes  half-caste  and  native  Chris- 


18 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


tians,  warlike  Moslems,  and  wild  pagans. 
Manj^  of  their  people  are  utterly  unfit  for 
self-government,  and  show  no  signs  of  be- 
coming fit.  Others  may  in  time  become  fit 
but  at  present  can  only  take  part  in  self- 
government  under  a wise  supervision,  at 
once  firm  and  beneficent.  We  have  driven 
Spanish  tyranny  from  the  islands.  If  we 
now  let  it  be  replaced  by  savage  anarchy, 
our  work  has  been  for  harm  and  not  for 
_,good.  I have  scant  patience  with  those  who 
fear  to  undertake  the  task  of  governing  the 
Philippines,  and  who  openly  avow  that  they 
do  fear  to  undertake  it,  or  that  they  shrink 
from  it  because  of  the  expense  and  trouble ; 
but  I have  even  scanter  patience  with  those 
who  make  a pretense  of  humanitarianism  to 
hide  and  cover  their  timidity,  and  who  cant 
about  “liberty”  and  the  “consent  of  the 
governed,”  in  order  to  excuse  themselves  for 
their  unwillingness  to  play  the  part  of  men. 
Their  doctrines,  if  carried  out,  would  make 
it  incumbent  upon  us  to  leave  the  Apaches 
of  Arizona  to  work  out  their  own  salvation, 
and  to  decline  to  interfere  in  a single  Indian 
reservation.  Their  doctrines  condemn  your 
forefathers  and  mine  for  ever  having  settled 
in  these  United  States. 

England’s  rule  in  India  and  Egypt  has 
been  of  great  benefit  to  England,  for  it  has 
trained  up  generations  of  men  accustomed 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


19 


to  look  at  the  larger  and  loftier  side  of  pub- 
lic life.  It  has  been  of  even  greater  benefit 
to  India  and  Egypt.  And  finally,  and  most 
of  all,  it  has  advanced  the  cause  of  civiliza- 
tion. So,  if  we  do  our  duty  aright  in  the 
Philippines,  we  will  add  to  that  national  re- 
nown which  is  the  highest  and  finest  part  of 
national  life,  will  greatly  benefit  the  people 
of  the  Philippine  Islands,  and,  above  all,  we 
will  play  our  part  well  in  the  great  work  of 
uplifting  mankind.  But  to  do  this  work, 
keep  ever  in  mind  that  we  must  show  in  a 
very  high  degree  the  qualities  of  courage,  of 
honesty,  and  of  good  judgment.  Eesistance 
must  be  stamped  out.  The  first  and  all- 
important  work  to  be  done  is  to  establish 
the  supremacy  of  our  fiag.  We  must  put 
down  armed  resistance  before  we  can  accom- 
plish anything  else,  and  there  should  be  no 
parleying,  no  faltering,  in  dealing  with  our 
foe.  As  for  those  in  our  own  country  who 
encourage  the  foe,  we  can  afford  contemp- 
tuously to  disregard  them;  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  their  utterances  are  not 
saved  from  being  treasonable  merely  by  the 
fact  that  they  are  despicable. 

When  once  we  have  put  down  armed  re- 
sistance, when  once  our  rule  is  acknow- 
ledged, then  an  even  more  difficult  task  will 
begin,  for  then  we  must  see  to  it  that  the 
islands  are  administered  with  absolute  hon- 


20 


THE  STRENUOUS  LIFE 


esty  and  with  good  judgment.  If  we  let  the 
public  service  of  the  islands  be  turned  into 
the  prey  of  the  spoils  politician,  we  shall 
have  begun  to  tread  the  path  which  Spain 
trod  to  her  own  destruction.  We  must  send 
out  there  only  good  and  able  men,  chosen 
for  their  fitness,  and  not  because  of  their 
partizan  service,  and  these  men  must  not 
only  administer  impartial  justice  to  the 
natives  and  serve  their  own  government 
with  honesty  and  fidelity,  but  must  show 
the  utmost  t&,ct  and  firmness,  remembering 
I that,  with  such  people  as  those  with  whom 
I we  are  to  deal,  weakness  is  the  greatest  of 
/ crimes,  and  that  next  to  weakness  comes 
lack  of  consideration  for  their  principles  and 
^ prejudices. 

I preach  to  you,  then,  my  countrymen, 
that  our  country  calls  not  for  the  life  of 
ease  but  for  the  life  of  strenuous  endeavor. 
The  twentieth  century  looms  before  us  big 
with  the  fate  of  many  nations.  If  we  stand 
idly  by,  if  we  seek  merely  swollen,  slothful 
ease  and  ignoble  peace,  if  we  shrink  from 
the  hard  contests  where  men  must  win  at 
hazard  of  their  lives  and  at  the  risk  of  all 
they  hold  dear,  then  the  bolder  and  stronger 
peoples  will  pass  us  by,  and  will  win  for 
themselves  the  domination  of  the  world. 
Let  us  therefore  boldly  face  the  life  of 
strife,  resolute  to  do  our  duty  well  and 


THE  STEENTJOUS  LIFE 


21 


manfully;  resolute  to  uphold  righteousness 
by  deed  and  by  word ; resolute  to  be  both 
honest  and  brave,  to  serve  high  ideals,  yet 
to  use  practical  methods.  Above  all,  let  us 
shrink  from  no  strife,  moral  or  physical, 
within  or  without  the  nation,  provided  we 
are  certain  that  the  strife  is  justified,  for  it 
is  only  through  strife,  through  hard  and 
dangerous  endeavor,  that  we  shall  ultimately 
win  the  goal  of  true  national  greatness. 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 

Published  in  the  “Independent,”  December  21,  1899 


f 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


9 

IT  was  the  gentlest  of  our  poets  who 
wrote : 

“ Be  bolde  ! Be  bolde ! and  everywhere,  Be  bolde  ” ; 
Be  not  too  bold ! Yet  better  the  excess 
Than  the  defect ; better  the  more  than  less. 

Longfellow’s  love  of  peace  was  profound; 
but  he  was  a man,  and  a wise  man,  and  he 
knew  that  cowardice  does  not  promote  peace,, 
and  that  even  the  great  evil  of  war  may  be  a 
less  evil  than  cringing  to  iniquity. 

Captain  Mahan,  than  whom  there  is  not  in 
the  country  a man  whom  we  can  more  ap- 
propriately designate  by  the  fine  and  high 
phrase,  “a  Christian  gentleman,”  and  who 
is  incapable  of  advocating  wrong-doing  of 
any  kind,  national  or  individual,  gives  utter- 
ance to  the  feeling  of  the  great  majority  of 
manly  and  thoughtful  men  when  he  de- 
nounces the  great  danger  of  indiscriminate 
advocacy  of  peace  at  any  price,  because  “ it 
may  lead  men  to  tamper  with  iniquity,  to 
compromise  with  unrighteousness,  soothing 
their  conscience  with  the  belief  that  war  is  so 


25 


26 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


entirely  wrong  tliat  beside  it  no  other  toler- 
ated evil  is  wrong.  Witness  Armenia  and 
witness  Crete.  War  has  been  avoided;  but 
what  of  the  national  consciences  that  beheld 
such  iniquity  and  withheld  the  hand  ? ” 

Peace  is  a great  good ; and  doubly  harmful, 
therefore,  is  the  attitude  of  those  who  ad- 
vocate it  in  terms  that  would  make  it 
synonymous  with  selfish  and  cowardly 
shrinking  from  warring  against  the  exis- 
tence of  evil.  The  wisest  and  most  far-seeing 
champions  of  peace  will  ever  remember  that, 
in  the  first  place,  to  be  good  it  must  be 
righteous,  for  unrighteous  and  cowardly 
peace  may  be  worse  than  any  war ; and,  in 
the  second  place,  that  it  can  often  be  obtained 
only  at  the  cost  of  war.  Let  me  take  two 
illustrations : 

The  great  blot  upon  European  interna- 
tional morality  in  the  closing  decade  of  this 
century  has  been  not  a war,  but  the  infamous 
peace  kept  by  the  joint  action  of  the  great 
powers,  while  Turkey  inflicted  the  last  hor- 
rors of  butchery,  torture,  and  outrage  upon 
the  men,  women,  and  children  of  despairing 
Armenia.  War  was  avoided;  peace  was 
kept ; but  what  a peace ! Infinitely  greater 
human  misery  was  inflicted  during  this  peace 
than  in  the  late  wars  of  Germany  with 
Prance,  of  Eussia  with  Turkey ; and  this 
_,misery  feU,  not  on  armed  men,  but  upon  de- 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


27 


fenseless  ■women  and  children,  upon  the  gray- 
beard  and  the  stripling  no  less  than  upon  the 
head  of  the  family ; and  it  came,  not  in  the 
mere  form  of  death  or  imprisonment,  but  of  tor- 
tures upon  men,  and,  above  all,  upon  ■women, 
too  horrible  to  relate — tortures  of  which  it  is 
too  terrible  even  to  think.  Moreover,  no 
good  resulted  from  the  bloodshed  and  misery. 
Often  this  is  the  case  in  a war,  but  often  it 
is  not  the  case.  The  result  of  the  last  Turko- 
Russian  war  was  an  immense  and  permanent 
increase  of  happiness  for  Bulgaria,  Servia, 
Bosnia,  and  Herzego’^ina.  These  pro^vinces 
became  independent  or  passed  under  the 
dominion  of  Austria,  and  the  advantage  that 
accrued  to  them  because  of  this  expansion 
of  the  domain  of  civilization  at  the  expense 
of  barbarism  has  been  simply  incalculable. 
This  expansion  produced  peace,  and  put  a 
stop  to  the  ceaseless,  grinding,  bloody  tyranny 
that  had  desolated  the  Balkans  for  so  many 
centuries.  There  are  many  excellent  people 
who  have  praised  Tolstoi’s  fantastic  religious 
doctrines,  his  fantastic  advocacy  of  peace. 
The  same  quality  that  makes  the  debauchee 
and  the  devotee  alternate  in  certain  decadent 
families,  the  hysterical  development  which 
leads  to  violent  emotional  reaction  in  a mor- 
bid natm’e  from  ■vice  to  -virtue,  also  leads  to 
the  creation  of  Tolstoi’s  “ Ki’eutzer  Sonata  ” 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  his  unhealthy  peace- 


28 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


mysticism  on  the  other.  A sane  and  healthy 
mind  would  be  as  incapable  of  the  moral 
degradation  of  the  novel  as  of  the  decadent 
morality  of  the  philosophy.  If  Tolstoi’s 
countrymen  had  acted  according  to  his  moral 
theories  they  would  now  be  extinct,  and 
savages  would  have  taken  their  place.  Un- 
just war  is  a terrible  sin.  It  does  not  now- 
adays in  the  aggregate  cause  anything  like 
the  misery  that  is  caused  in  the  aggregate 
by  unjust  dealing  toward  one’s  neighbors  in 
the  commercial  and  social  world;  and  to 
condemn  all  war  is  just  as  logical  as  to  con- 
demn all  business  and  all  social  relations,  as 
to  condemn  love  and  marriage  because  of  the 
frightful  misery  caused  by  brutal  and  unreg- 
ulated passion.  If  Eussia  had  acted  upon 
Tolstoi’s  philosophy,  aU  its  people  would  long 
ago  have  disappeared  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  the  country  would  now  be  occu- 
pied by  wandering  tribes  of  Tartar  barba- 
rians. The  Armenian  massacres  are  simply 
illustrations  on  a small  scale  of  what  would 
take  place  on  the  very  largest  scale  if  Tolstoi’s 
principles  became  universal  among  civilized 
people.  It  is  not  necessary  to  point  out  that 
the  teaching  which  would  produce  such  a 
condition  of  things  is  fundamentally  im- 
moral. 

Again,  peace  may  come  only  through  war. 
There  are  men  in  our  country  who  seem- 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


29 


ingly  forget  that  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  j 
War  the  great  cry  raised  by  the  opponents  / 
of  the  war  was  the  cry  for  peace.  One  of  / 
the  most  amusing  and  most  biting  satires 
written  by  the  friends  of  union  and  liberty 
during  the  Civil  War  was  called  the  “New 
Gospel  of  Peace,”  in  derision  of  this  attitude. 
The  men  in  our  own  country  who,  in  the 
name  of  peace,  have  been  encouraging 
Aguinaldo  and  his  people  to  shoot  down  our 
soldiers  in  the  Philippines  might  profit  not 
a little  if  they  would  look  back  to  the  days 
of  the  bloody  draft  riots,  which  were  de- 
liberately incited  in  the  name  of  peace  and 
free  speech,  when  the  mob  killed  men  and 
women  in  the  streets  and  burned  orphan 
children  in  the  asylums  as  a protest  against 
the  war.  Four  years  of  bloody  struggle 
with  an  armed  foe,  who  was  helped  at  every 
turn  by  the  self-styled  advocates  of  peace, 
were  needed  in  order  to  restore  the  Union ; 
but  the  result  has  been  that  the  peace  of 
this  continent  has  been  effectually  assured. 
Had  the  short-sighted  advocates  of  peace 
for  the  moment  had  their  way,  and  seces- 
sion become  an  actual  fact,  nothing  could 
have  prevented  a repetition  in  North  Amer- 
ica of  the  devastating  anarchic  warfare  that 
obtained  for  three  quarters  of  a century  in 
South  America  after  the  yoke  of  Spain  was 
thrown  off.  We  escaped  generations  of  an- 


30 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


arehy  and  bloodshed,  because  our  fathers 
who  upheld  Lincoln  and  followed  Grant  were 
men  in  every  sense  of  the  term,  with  too 
much  common  sense  to  be  misled  by  those 
who  preached  that  war  was  always  wrong, 
and  with  a fund  of  stern  virtue  deep  in  their 
souls  which  enabled  them  to  do  deeds  from 
which  men  of  over-soft  natures  would  have 
shrunk  appalled. 

Wars  between  civilized  communities  are 
very  dreadful,  and  as  nations  grow  more  and 
more  civilized  we  have  every  reason,  not 
merely  to  hope,  but  to  believe  that  they  will 
grow  rarer  and  rarer.  Even  with  civilized 
peoples,  as  was  shown  by  our  own  experience 
in  1861,  it  may  be  necessary  at  last  to  draw  the 
sword  rather  than  to  submit  to  wrong-doing. 
But  a very  marked  feature  in  the  world-his- 
tory of  the  present  century  has  been  the 
growing  infrequency  of  wars  between  great 
civilized  nations.  The  Peace  Conference  at 
The  Hague  is  but  one  of  the  signs  of  this 
growth.  I am  among  those  who  believe  that 
much  was  accomplished  at  that  conference, 
and  I am  proud  of  the  leading  position  taken 
in  the  conference  by  our  delegates.  Inci- 
dentally I may  mention  that  the  testimony 
is  unanimous  that  they  were  able  to  take 
this  leading  position  chiefly  because  we  had 
just  emerged  victorious  from  our  most  right- 
eous war  with  Spain.  Scant  attention  is 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


31 


paid  to  the  'weakling  or  the  coward  who 
babbles  of  peace ; but  due  heed  is  given  to 
the  strong  man  with  sword  girt  on  thigh 
who  preaches  peace,  not  from  ignoble  mo- 
tives, not  from  fear  or  distrust  of  his  own 
powers,  but  from  a deep  sense  of  moral 
obligation. 

The  growth  of  peacefulness  between  na- 
tions, however,  has  been  confined  strictly  to 
those  that  are  civilized.  It  can  only  come 
when  both  parties  to  a possible  quarrel  feel 
the  same  spirit.  With  a barbarous  nation 
peace  is  the  exceptional  condition.  On  the 
border  between  civilization  and  barbarism 
war  is  generally  normal  because  it  must  be 
under  the  conditions  of  barbarism.  Whe- 
ther the  barbarian  be  the  Eed  Indian  on  the 
frontier  of  the  United  States,  the  Afghan  on 
the  border  of  British  India,  or  the  Turkoman 
who  confronts  the  Siberian  Cossack,  the 
result  is  the  same.  In  the  long  run  civilized 
man  finds  he  can  keep  the  peace  only  by 
subduing  his  barbarian  neighbor;  for  the 
barbarian  will  yield  only  to  force,  save  in 
instances  so  exceptional  that  they  may  be  dis- 
regarded. Back  of  the  force  must  come  fair 
dealing,  if  the  peace  is  to  be  permanent.  But 
without  force  fair  dealing  usually  amounts 
to  nothing.  In  our  history  we  have  had 
more  trouble  from  the  Indian  tribes  whom 
we  pampered  and  petted  than  from  those  we 


32 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


wronged ; and  this  has  been  true  in  Siberia, 
Hindustan,  and  Africa. 

Every  expansion  of  civilization  makes  for 
peace.  In  other  words,  every  expansion  of 
a great  civilized  power  means  a victory  for 
law,  order,  and  righteousness.  This  has 
been  the  case  in  every  instance  of  expan- 
sion during  the  present  century,  whether  the 
expanding  power  were  France  or  England, 
Eussia  or  America.  In  every  instance  the 
expansion  has  been  of  benefit,  not  so  much 
to  the  power  nominally  benefited,  as  to  the 
whole  world.  In  every  instance  the  result 
proved  that  the  expanding  power  was  doing 
a duty  to  civilization  far  greater  and  more 
important  than  could  have  been  done  by  any 
stationary  power.  Take  the  case  of  France 
and  Algiers.  During  the  early  decades  of 
the  present  century  piracy  of  the  most 
dreadful  description  was  rife  on  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  thousands  of  civilized  men 
were  yearly  dragged  into  slavery  by  the 
Moorish  pirates.  A degrading  peace  was 
purchased  by  the  civilized  powers  by  the 
payment  of  tribute.  Our  own  country  was 
one  among  the  tributary  nations  which  thus 
paid  blood-money  to  the  Moslem  bandits  of 
the  sea.  We  fought  occasional  battles  with 
them ; and  so,  on  a larger  scale,  did  the  Eng- 
lish. But  peace  did  not  follow,  because  the 
country  was  not  occupied.  Our  last  pay- 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


33 


ment  was  made  in  1830,  and  the  reason  it 
was  the  last  was  because  in  that  year  the 
French  conquest  of  Algiers  began.  Foolish 
sentimentalists,  like  those  who  wrote  little 
poems  in  favor  of  the  Mahdists  against  the 
English,  and  who  now  write  httle  essays  in 
favor  of  Aguinaldo  against  the  Americans, 
celebrated  the  Algerian  freebooters  as  heroes 
who  were  striving  for  liberty  against  the  in- 
vading French.  But  the  French  continued 
to  do  their  work ; France  expanded  over  Al- 
giers, and  the  result  was  that  piracy  on  the 
Mediterranean  came  to  an  end,  and  Algiers 
has  thriven  as  never  before  in  its  history. 
On  an  even  larger  scale  the  same  thing  is 
true  of  England  and  the  Sudan.  The  ex- 
pansion of  England  throughout  the  Nile 
valley  has  been  an  incalculable  gain  for 
civilization.  Any  one  who  reads  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Austrian  priests  and  laymen 
who  were  prisoners  in  the  Sudan  under  the 
Mahdi  will  realize  that  when  England 
crushed  him  and  conquered  the  Sudan  she 
conferred  a priceless  boon  upon  humanity 
and  made  the  civilized  world  her  debtor. 
Again,  the  same  thing  is  true  of  the  Eussian 
advance  in  Asia.  As  in  the  Sudan  the  Eng- 
lish conquest  is  followed  by  peace,  and  the 
endless  massacres  of  the  Mahdi  are  stopped 
forever,  so  the  Eussian  conquest  of  the  khan- 
ates of  central  Asia  meant  the  cessation  of 


34 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


the  barbarous  warfare  under  which  Asian 
civilization  had  steadily  withered  away  since 
the  days  of  Jenghiz  Khan,  and  the  substitu- 
tion in  its  place  of  the  reign  of  peace  and 
order.  All  civilization  has  been  the  gainer 
by  the  Russian  advance,  as  it  was  the  gainer 
by  the  advance  of  France  in  North  Africa; 
as  it  has  been  the  gainer  by  the  advance  of 
England  in  both  Asia  and  Africa,  both 
Canada  and  Australia.  Above  all,  there  has 
been  the  greatest  possible  gain  in  peace.  The 
rule  of  law  and  of  order  has  succeeded  to 
the  rule  of  barbarous  and  bloody  violence. 
Until  the  great  civilized  nations  stepped  in 
there  was  no  chance  for  anything  but  such 
bloody  violence. 

So  it  has  been  in  the  history  of  our  own 
country.  Of  course  our  whole  national  his- 
tory has  been  one  of  expansion.  Under 
Washington  and  Adams  we  expanded  west- 
ward to  the  Mississippi ; under  Jefferson  we 
expanded  across  the  continent  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia ; under  Monroe  we  expanded 
into  Florida ; and  then  into  Texas  and  Cali- 
fornia; and  finally,  largely  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  Seward,  into  Alaska ; while 
under  every  administration  the  process  of  -■ 
expansion  in  the  great  plains  and  the  Rock- 
ies has  continued  with  growing  rapidity. 
While  we  had  a frontier  the  chief  feature  of 
frontier  life  was  the  endless  war  between  the 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


35 


settlers  and  the  red  men.  Sometimes  the 
immediate  occasion  for  the  war  was  to  be 
fonnd  in  the  conduct  of  the  whites  and  some- 
times in  that  of  the  reds,  but  the  ultimate 
cause  was  simply  that  we  were  in  contact 
with  a country  held  by  savages  or  half-sav- 
ages. Where  we  abut  on  Canada  there  is 
no  danger  of  war,  nor  is  there  any  danger 
where  we  abut  on  the  well-settled  regions  of 
Mexico.  But  elsewhere  war  had  to  continue 
until  we  expanded  over  the  country.  Then 
it  was  succeeded  at  once  by  a peace  which 
has  remained  unbroken  to  the  present  day. 
In  North  America,  as  elsewhere  throughout 
the  entire  world,  the  expansion  of  a civilized 
nation  has  invariably  meant  the  growth  of 
the  area  in  which  peace  is  normal  throughout 
the  world. 

The  same  will  be  true  of  the  Philippines. 
If  the  men  who  have  counseled  national  deg- 
radation, national  dishonor,  by  urging  us 
to  leave  the  Philippines  and  put  the  Agui- 
naldan  oligarchy  in  control  of  those  islands, 
could  have  their  way,  we  should  merely  turn 
them  over  to  rapine  and  bloodshed  until 
some  stronger,  manlier  power  stepped  in  to 
do  the  task  we  had  shown  ourselves  fearful 
of  performing.  But,  as  it  is,  this  country  will 
keep  the  islands  and  will  establish  therein  a 
stable  and  orderly  government,  so  that  one 
more  fair  spot  of  the  world’s  surface  shall 


36 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


have  been  snatched  from  the  forces  of  dark- 
ness. Fundamentally  the  cause  of  expansion 
is  the  cause  of  peace. 

With  civilized  powers  there  is  but  little 
danger  of  our  getting  into  war.  In  the  Pa- 
cific, for  instance,  the  great  progressive,  col- 
onizing nations  are  England  and  Germany. 
With  England  we  have  recently  begun  to 
feel  ties  of  kindness  as  well  as  of  kinship, 
and  with  her  our  relations  are  better  than 
ever  before;  and  so  they  ought  to  be  with 
Germany.  Eecently  affairs  in  Samoa  have 
been  straightened  out,  although  there  we 
suffered  from  the  worst  of  all  types  of  gov- 
ernment, one  in  which  three  powers  had  a 
joint  responsibility  (the  type,  by  the  way, 
which  some  of  the  anti-imperialists  actually 
advocated  our  introducing  in  the  Philippines, 
under  the  pretense  of  rendering  them  neu- 
tral). This  was  accomplished  very  largely 
because  the  three  nations  set  good-hu- 
moredly to  work  to  come  to  an  agreement 
which  would  do  justice  to  all.  In  the  pre- 
liminary negotiations  the  agents  of  America 
and  Germany  were  Mr.  Tripp  and  Baron 
Sternburg.  No  difficulty  can  ever  arise  be- 
tween Germany  and  the  United  States  which 
will  not  be  settled  with  satisfaction  to  both,  if 
the  negotiations  are  conducted  by  such  repre- 
sentatives of  the  two  powers  as  these  two 
men.  What  is  necessary  is  to  approach  the 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


37 


subject,  not  witb  a desire  to  get  ahead  of  one 
another,  but  to  do  even  and  exact  justice, 
and  to  put  into  operation  a scheme  which 
will  work,  while  scrupulously  conserving  the 
honor  and  interest  of  all  concerned. 

Nations  that  expand  and  nations  that  do 
not  expand  may  both  ultimately  go  down, 
but  the  one  leaves  heirs  and  a glorious 
memory,  and  the  other  leaves  neither.  The 
Eoman  expanded,  and  he  has  left  a memory 
which  has  profoundly  influenced  the  history 
of  mankind,  and  he  has  further  left  as  the 
heirs  of  his  body,  and,  above  all,  of  his  tongue 
and  culture,  the  so-called  Latin  peoples  of 
Europe  and  America.  Similarly  to-day  it  is 
the  great  expanding  peoples  which  bequeath 
to  future  ages  the  great  memories  and  ma- 
terial results  of  their  achievements,  and  the 
nations  which  shall  have  sprung  from  their 
loins,  England  standing  as  the  archetype  and 
best  exemplar  of  all  such  mighty  nations. 
But  the  peoples  that  do  not  expand  leave, 
and  can  leave,  nothing  behind  them. 

It  is  only  the  warlike  power  of  a civilized 
people  that  can  give  peace  to  the  world.  The 
Arab  wrecked  the  civilization  of  the  Medi- 
terranean coasts,  the  Turk  wrecked  the  civi- 
lization of  southeastern  Europe,  and  the 
Tatar  desolated  from  China  to  Eussia  and 
to  Persia,  setting  back  the  progress  of  the 
world  for  centuries,  solely  because  the  civi- 


38 


EXPANSION  AND  PEACE 


lized  nations  opposed  to  them  had  lost  the 
great  fighting  qualities,  and,  in  becoming 
overpeaceful,  had  lost  the  power  of  keeping 
peace  with  a strong  hand.  Their  passing 
away  marked  the  beginning  of  a period  of 
chaotic  barbarian  warfare.  Those  whose 
memories  are  not  so  short  as  to  have  for- 
gotten the  defeat  of  the  G-reeks  by  the  Turks, 
of  the  Italians  by  the  Abyssinians,  and  the 
feeble  campaigns  waged  by  Spain  against 
feeble  Morocco,  must  reahze  that  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  the  Mediterranean  coasts  would 
be  overrun  either  by  the  Turks  or  by  the 
Sudan  Mahdists  if  these  warlike  barbarians 
had  only  to  fear  those  southern  European 
powers  which  have  lost  the  fighting  edge. 
Such  a barbarian  conquest  would  mean  end- 
less war;  and  the  fact  that  nowadays  the 
reverse  takes  place,  and  that  the  barbarians 
recede  or  are  conquered,  with  the  attendant 
fact  that  peace  follows  their  retrogression  or 
conquest,  is  due  solely  to  the  power  of  the 
mighty  civilized  races  which  have  not  lost 
the  fighting  instinct,  and  which  by  their  ex- 
pansion are  gradually  bringing  peace  into 
the  red  wastes  where  the  barbarian  peoples 
of  the  world  hold  sway. 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE  AMONG 
EEFOEMERS 


Published  in  the  “ Century,”  June,  1900 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE  AMONG 
EEFOEMERS 


ONE  of  Miss  Mary  E.  Wilkins’s  delight- 
ful heroines  remarks,  in  speaking  of 
certain  would-be  leaders  of  social  reform  in 
her  village : “ I don’t  know  that  I think  they 
are  so  much  above  us  as  too  far  to  one  side. 
Sometimes  it  is  longitude  and  sometimes  it 
is  latitude  that  separates  people.”  This  is 
true,  and  the  philosophy  it  teaches  applies 
quite  as  much  to  those  who  would  reform 
the  politics  of  a large  city,  or,  for  that 
matter,  of  the  whole  country,  as  to  those  who 
would  reform  the  society  of  a hamlet. 

There  is  always  danger  of  being  misunder- 
stood when  one  writes  about  such  a subject 
as  this,  because  there  are  on  each  side  un- 
healthy extremists  who  like  to  take  half  of 
any  statement  and  twist  it  into  an  argument 
in  favor  of  themselves  or  against  their  op- 
ponents. No  single  sentence  or  two  is  suffi- 
cient to  explain  a man’s  full  meaning,  any 
more  than  in  a sentence  or  two  it  would  be 
possible  to  treat  the  question  of  the  necessity 
for,  and  the  limitations  of,  proper  party  loyal- 
41 


42 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


ty,  with  the  thoroughness  and  justice  shown, 
for  instance,  by  Mr.  Lecky  in  his  recent 
queerly  named  volume,  “ The  Map  of  Life.” 

All  men  in  whose  character  there  is  not 
an  element  of  hardened  baseness  must  ad- 
mit the  need  in  our  public  life  of  those  qual- 
ities which  we  somewhat  vaguely  group 
together  when  we  speak  of  “reform,”  and 
all  men  of  sound  mind  must  also  admit  the 
need  of  efficiency.  There  are,  of  course, 
men  of  such  low  moral  type,  or  of  such  in- 
grained cynicism,  that  they  do  not  believe 
in  the  possibility  of  making  anything  better, 
or  do  not  care  to  see  things  better.  There 
are  also  men  who  are  slightly  disordered 
mentally,  or  who  are  cursed  with  a moral 
twist  which  makes  them  champion  reforms 
less  from  a desire  to  do  good  to  others  than 
as  a kind  of  tribute  to  their  own  righteous- 
ness, for  the  sake  of  emphasizing  their  own 
superiority.  From  neither  of  these  classes 
can  we  get  any  real  help  in  the  unending 
struggle  for  righteousness.  There  remains 
the  great  body  of  the  people,  including  the 
entire  body  of  those  through  whom  the  sal- 
vation of  the  people  must  ultimately  be 
worked  out.  All  these  men  combine  or 
seek  to  combine  in  varying  degrees  the 
quality  of  striving  after  the  ideal,  that  is, 
the  quality  which  makes  men  reformers,  and 
the  quality  of  so  striving  through  practical 


AMONG  EEFOEMERS 


43 


methods — the  quality  which  makes  men 
efficient.  Both  qualities  are  absolutely  es- 
sential. The  absence  of  either  makes  the 
presence  of  the  other  worthless  or  worse. 

If  there  is  one  tendency  of  the  day  which 
more  than  any  other  is  unhealthy  and  un- 
desii’able,  it  is  the  tendency  to  deify  mere 
“smartness,”  unaccompanied  by  a sense  of 
moral  accountability.  We  shall  never  make 
our  republic  what  it  should  be  until  as  a 
people  we  thoroughly  understand  and  put 
in  practice  the  doctrine  that  success  is  ab- 
horrent if  attained  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  morality.  The 
successful  man,  whether  in  business  or  in 
politics,  who  has  risen  by  conscienceless 
swindling  of  his  neighbors,  by  deceit  and 
chicanery,  by  unscrupulous  boldness  and 
unscrupulous  cunning,  stands  toward  so- 
ciety as  a dangerous  wild  beast.  The  mean 
and  cringing  admiration  which  such  a career 
commands  among  those  who  think  crookedly 
or  not  at  all  makes  this  kind  of  success  per- 
haps the  most  dangerous  of  all  the  influences 
that  threaten  our  national  life.  Our  stan- 
dard of  public  and  private  conduct  will  never 
be  raised  to  the  proper  level  until  we  make 
the  scoundrel  who  succeeds  feel  the  weight 
of  a hostile  public  opinion  even  more  strongly 
than  the  scoundrel  who  fails. 

On  the  other  hand,  mere  beating  the  air, 


44 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


mere  visionary  adherence  to  a nebulous  and 
possibly  highly  undesirable  ideal,  is  utterly 
worthless.  The  cloistered  virtue  which  tim- 
idly shrinks  from  all  contact  with  the  rough 
world  of  actual  life,  and  the  uneasy,  self- 
conscious  vanity  which  misnames  itself  vir- 
tue, and  which  declines  to  cooperate  with 
whatever  does  not  adopt  its  own  fantastic 
standard,  are  rather  worse  than  valueless, 
because  they  tend  to  rob  the  forces  of  good 
of  elements  on  which  they  ought  to  be  able 
to  count  in  the  ceaseless  contest  with  the 
forces  of  evil.  It  is  true  that  the  impracti- 
cable idealist  differs  from  the  hard-working, 
sincere  man  who  in  practical  fashion,  and 
by  deeds  as  well  as  by  words,  strives  in  some 
sort  actually  to  realize  his  ideal;  but  the 
difference  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  first  is 
impracticable,  not  in  his  having  a high  ideal, 
for  the  ideal  of  the  other  may  be  even  higher. 
At  times  a man  must  cut  loose  from  his  as- 
sociates, and  stand  alone  for  a great  cause ; 
but  the  necessity  for  such  action  is  almost 
as  rare  as  the  necessity  for  a revolution ; and 
to  take  such  ground  continually,  in  season 
and  out  of  season,  is  the  sign  of  an  un- 
healthy nature.  It  is  not  possible  to  lay 
down  an  indexible  rule  as  to  when  com- 
promise is  right  and  when  wrong;  when  it 
is  a sign  of  the  highest  statesmanship  to 
temporize,  and  when  it  is  merely  a proof  of 


AMONG  EEFOEMEES 


45 


weakness.  Now  and  then  one  can  stand 
nncompromisingly  for  a naked  principle  and 
force  people  up  to  it.  This  is  always  the 
attractive  course ; hut  in  certain  great  crises 
it  may  be  a very  wrong  course.  Compro- 
mise, in  the  proper  sense,  merely  means  agree- 
ment ; in  the  proper  sense  opportunism 
should  merely  mean  doing  the  best  possible 
with  actual  conditions  as  they  exist.  A 
compromise  which  results  in  a half-step  to- 
ward evil  is  all  wrong,  just  as  the  opportu- 
nist who  saves  himself  for  the  moment  by 
adopting  a policy  which  is  fraught  with 
future  disaster  is  all  wrong;  but  no  less 
wrong  is  the  attitude  of  those  who  will  not 
come  to  an  agreement  through  which,  or  will 
not  follow  the  course  by  which,  it  is  alone  pos- 
sible to  accomplish  practical  results  for  good. 

These  two  attitudes,  the  attitude  of  deify- 
ing mere  efficiency,  mere  success,  without 
regard  to  the  moral  qualities  lying  behind 
it,  and  the  attitude  of  disregarding  efficiency, 
disregarding  practical  results,  are  the  Scylla 
and  Charybdis  between  which  every  earnest 
reformer,  every  politician  who  desires  to 
make  the  name  of  his  profession  a term  of 
honor  instead  of  shame,  must  steer.  He 
must  avoid  both  under  penalty  of  wreckage, 
and  it  avails  him  nothing  to  have  avoided 
one,  if  he  founders  on  the  other.  People  are 
apt  to  speak  as  if  in  political  life,  public  life. 


46 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


it  ouglit  to  be  a mere  case  of  striving  upward 
— striving  toward  a high  peak.  The  simile 
is  inexact.  Every  man  who  is  striving  to 
do  good  public  work  is  traveling  along  a 
ridge  crest,  with  the  gulf  of  failure  on  each 
side— the  gulf  of  inefficiency  on  the  one  side, 
the  gulf  of  unrighteousness  on  the  other. 
All  kinds  of  forces  are  continually  playing 
on  him,  to  shove  him  first  into  one  gulf 
and  then  into  the  other;  and  even  a wise 
and  good  man,  unless  he  braces  himself  with 
uncommon  firmness  and  foresight,  as  he  is 
pushed  this  way  and  that,  will  find  that  his 
course  becomes  a pronounced  zigzag  instead 
of  a straight  line ; and  if  it  becomes  too  pro- 
nounced he  is  lost,  no  matter  to  which  side 
the  zigzag  may  take  him.  Nor  is  he  lost 
only  as  regards  his  own  career.  What  is  far 
more  serious,  his  power  of  doing  useful  ser- 
vice to  the  public  is  at  an  end.  He  may 
still,  if  a mere  politician,  have  political  place, 
or,  if  a make-believe  reformer,  retain  that 
notoriety  upon  which  his  vanity  feeds.  But, 
in  either  case,  his  usefulness  to  the  commu- 
nity has  ceased. 

The  man  who  sacrifices  everything  to  effi- 
ciency needs  but  a short  shrift  in  a discussion 
like  this.  The  abler  he  is,  the  more  danger- 
ous he  is  to  the  community.  The  master 
and  typical  representative  of  a gi’eat  munici- 
pal political  organization  recently  stated 


AMONG  EEFOEMERS 


47 


under  oath  that  “he  was  in  politics  for  his 
pocket  every  time.”  This  put  in  its  baldest 
and  most  cynically  offensive  shape  the  doc- 
trine npon  which  certain  public  men  act.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  argue  its  iniquity  with 
i those  who  have  advanced  any  great  distance 
beyond  the  brigand  theory  of  political  hfe. 
Some  years  ago  another  public  man  enun- 
ciated much  the  same  doctrine  in  the  phrase, 
“ The  Decalogue  and  the  G-olden  Eule  have 
no  part  in  political  life.”  Such  statements, 
openly  made,  imply  a belief  that  the  public 
conscience  is  dull ; and  where  the  men  who 
make  them  continue  to  be  political  leaders, 
the  public  has  itself  to  thank  for  all  short- 
comings in  public  life. 

The  man  who  is  constitutionally  incapable 
of  working  for  practical  results  ought  not  to 
need  a much  longer  shrift.  In  every  com- 
munity there  are  little  knots  of  fantastic 
extremists  who  loudly  proclaim  that  they 
are  striving  for  righteousness,  and  who,  in 
reality,  do  their  feeble  best  for  unrighteous- 
ness. Just  as  the  upright  politican  should 
hold  in  peculiar  scorn  the  man  who  makes 
the  name  of  politician  a reproach  and  a 
shame,  so  the  genuine  reformer  should  real- 
ize that  the  cause  he  champions  is  especially 
jeopardized  by  the  mock  reformer  who  does 
what  he  can  to  make  reform  a laughing- 
stock among  decent  men. 


48 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


A caustic  observer  once  remarked  that 
when  Dr.  Johnson  spoke  of  patriotism  as 
the  last  refuge  of  a scoundrel,  “he  was 
ignorant  of  the  infinite  possibilities  con- 
tained in  the  word  ‘reform.’”  The  sneer 
was  discreditable  to  the  man  who  uttered 
it,  for  it  is  no  more  possible  to  justify  cor- 
ruption by  railing  at  those  who  by  their  con- 
duct throw  scandal  upon  the  cause  of  reform 
than  it  is  to  justify  treason  by  showing  that 
men  of  shady  character  frequently  try  to 
cover  their  misconduct  by  fervent  protesta- 
tions of  love  of  country.  Nevertheless,  the 
fact  remains  that  exactly  as  true  patriots 
should  be  especially  jealous  of  any  appeal  to 
what  is  base  under  the  guise  of  patriotism, 
so  men  who  strive  for  honesty,  and  for  the 
cleansing  of  what  is  corrupt  in  the  dark 
places  of  our  politics,  should  emphatically 
disassociate  themselves  from  the  men  whose 
antics  throw  discredit  upon  the  reforms  they 
profess  to  advocate. 

These  little  knots  of  extremists  are  found 
everywhere,  one  type  fiourishing  chiefiy  in 
one  locality  and  another  type  in  another.  In 
the  particular  objects  they  severally  profess 
to  champion  they  are  as  far  asunder  as  the 
poles,  for  one  of  their  characteristics  is  that 
each  little  group  has  its  own  patent  recipe 
for  salvation  and  pays  no  attention  what- 
ever to  the  other  little  groups ; but  in  mental 


AMONG  EEFORMERS 


49 


and  moral  habit  they  are  fundamentally 
alike.  They  may  be  socialists  of  twenty 
different  types,  from  the  followers  of  Tolstoi 
down  and  up,  or  they  may  ostensibly  cham- 
pion some  cause  in  itself  excellent,  such  as 
temperance  or  municipal  reform,  or  they 
may  merely  with  comprehensive  vagueness 
announce  themselves  as  the  general  enemies 
of  what  is  bad,  of  corruption,  machine  poli- 
tics, and  the  like.  Their  policies  and  prin- 
ciples are  usually  mutually  exclusive;  but 
that  does  not  alter  the  conviction,  which 
each  feels  or  affects  to  feel,  that  his  particu- 
lar group  is  the  real  vanguard  of  the  army 
of  reform.  Of  course,  as  the  particular 
groups  are  all  marching  in  different  direc- 
tions, it  is  not  possible  for  more  than  one  of 
them  to  be  the  vanguard.  The  others,  at 
best,  must  be  off  to  one  side,  and  may  pos- 
sibly be  marching  the  wrong  way  in  the 
rear;  and,  as  a matter  of  fact,  it  is  only 
occasionally  that  any  one  of  them  is  in  the 
front.  There  are  in  each  group  many  en- 
tirely sincere  and  honest  men,  and  because 
of  the  presence  of  these  men  we  are  too  apt 
to  pay  some  of  their  associates  the  unmerited 
i compliment  of  speaking  of  them  also  as  hon- 
est but  impracticable.  As  a matter  of  fact, 
the  typical  extremist  of  this  kind  differs 
from  the  practical  reformer,  from  the  public 
man  who  strives  in  practical  fashion  for 


60 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


decency,  not  at  all  in  superior  morality,  but 
in  inferior  sense.  He  is  not  more  virtuous ; 
be  is  less  virtuous.  He  is  merely  more  fool- 
ish. When  Wendell  Phillips  denounced 
Abraham  Lincoln  as  “the  slave-hound  of 
Illinois,”  he  did  not  show  himself  more  virtu- 
ous than  Lincoln,  but  more  foolish.  Neither 
did  he  advance  the  cause  of  human  freedom. 
When  the  contest  for  the  Union  and  against 
slavery  took  on  definite  shape,  then  he  and 
his  kind  were  swept  aside  by  the  statesmen 
and  soldiers,  like  Lincoln  and  Seward,  Grant 
and  Farragut,  who  alone  were  able  to  ride  the 
storm.  Great  as  is  the  superiority  in  effi- 
ciency of  the  men  who  do  things  over  those 
who  do  not,  it  may  be  no  greater  than  their 
superiority  in  morality.  In  addition  to  the 
simple  and  sincere  men  who  have  a twist  in 
their  mental  make-up,  these  knots  of  enthu- 
siasts contain,  especially  among  their  leaders, 
men  of  morbid  vanity,  who  thirst  for  noto- 
riety, men  who  lack  power  to  accomplish 
anything  if  they  go  in  with  their  fellows  to 
fight  for  results,  and  who  prefer  to  sit  out- 
side and  attract  momentary  attention  by  de- 
nouncing those  who  are  really  forces  for  good. 

In  every  community  in  our  land  there  are 
many  hundreds  of  earnest  and  sincere  men, 
clergymen  and  laymen,  reformers  who  strive 
for  reform  in  the  field  of  politics,  in  the  field 
of  philanthropy,  in  the  field  of  social  life ; and 


AMONG  EEFOEMEES 


61 


■we  could  count  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand  the 
number  of  times  these  men  have  been  really 
aided  in  their  efforts  by  the  men  of  the  type 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  The 
socialist  "who  raves  against  the  existing  order 
is  not  the  man  who  ever  lifts  his  hand  practi- 
cally to  make  our  social  life  a little  better,  to 
make  the  conditions  that  bear  upon  the  un- 
fortunate a little  easier;  the  man  who  de- 
mands the  immediate  impossible  in  temper- 
ance is  not  the  man  who  ever  aids  in  an  effort 
to  minimize  the  evils  caused  by  the  saloon ; 
and  those  who  work  practically  for  political 
reform  are  hampered,  so  far  as  they  are 
affected  at  all,  by  the  strutting  vanity  of  the 
professional  impracticables. 

It  is  not  that  these  little  knots  of  men  ac- 
complish much  of  a positive  nature  that  is 
objectionable,  for  their  direct  influence  is 
inconsiderable;  but  they  do  have  an  un- 
doubted indirect  effect  for  bad,  and  this  of 
a double  kind.  They  affect  for  evil  a certain 
number  of  decent  men  in  one  way  and  a cer- 
tain number  of  equally  decent  men  in  an 
entirely  different  way.  Some  decent  men, 
following  their  lead,  withdraw  themselves 
from  the  active  work  of  life,  whether  social, 
philanthropic,  or  political,  and  by  the  amount 
they  thus  withdraw  from  the  side  of  the 
forces  of  good  they  strengthen  the  forces  of 
evil,  as,  of  course,  it  makes  no  difference 


62 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


whether  we  lessen  the  numerator  or  increase 
the  denominator.  Other  decent  men  are  so 
alienated  by  such  conduct  that  in  their  turn 
they  abandon  all  effort  to  fight  for  reform, 
believing  reformers  to  be  either  hypocrites 
or  fools.  Both  of  these  phenomena  are  per- 
fectly familiar  to  every  active  politician  who 
has  striven  for  decency,  and  to  every  man 
who  has  studied  history  in  an  intelligent 
way.  Few  things  hurt  a good  cause  more 
than  the  excesses  of  its  nominal  friends. 

Fortunately,  most  extremists  lack  the 
power  to  commit  dangerous  excesses.  Their 
action  is  normally  as  abortive  as  that  of  the 
queer  abolitionist  group  who,  in  1864,  nom- 
inated a candidate  against  Abraham  Lincoln 
when  he  was  running  for  reelection  to  the 
Presidency.  The  men  entering  this  move- 
ment represented  all  extremes,  moral  and 
mental.  Nominally  they  opposed  Lincoln 
because  they  did  not  feel  that  he  had  gone 
far  enough  in  what  they  deemed  the  right 
direction, — had  not  been  sufficiently  ex- 
treme,— and  they  objected  to  what  they 
styled  his  opportunism,  his  tendency  to 
compromise,  his  temporizing  conduct,  and 
his  being  a practical  politician.  In  reality, 
of  course,  their  opposition  to  Lincoln  was 
conditioned,  not  upon  what  Lincoln  had 
done,  but  upon  their  own  natures.  They 
were  incapable  of  supporting  a great  con- 


AMONG  EEFOKMEES 


63 


structive  statesman  in  a great  crisis ; and  this, 
not  because  they  were  too  virtuous,  but  be- 
cause they  lacked  the  necessary  common 
sense  and  power  of  subordination  of  self  to 
enable  them  to  work  disinterestedly  with 
others  for  the  common  good.  Their  move- 
ment, however,  proved  utterly  abortive,  and 
they  had  no  effect  even  for  evil.  The  sound, 
wholesome  common  sense  of  the  American 
people  fortunately  renders  such  movements, 
as  a rule,  innocuous ; and  this  is,  in  reality, 
the  prime  reason  why  republican  govern- 
ment prospers  in  America,  as  it  does  not 
prosper,  for  instance,  in  France.  With  us 
these  little  knots  of  impracticables  have  an 
insignificant  effect  upon  the  national  life, 
and  no  representation  to  speak  of  in  om’  gov- 
ernmental assemblies.  In  France,  where 
the  nation  has  not  the  habit  of  self-govern- 
ment, and  where  the  national  spirit  is  more 
volatile  and  less  sane,  each  little  group  grows 
until  it  becomes  a power  for  evil,  and,  taken 
together,  all  the  little  groups  give  to  French 
political  life  its  curious,  and  by  no  means 
elevating,  kaleidoscopic  character. 

Macaulay’s  eminently  sane  and  wholesome 
spirit  and  his  knowledge  of  practical  affairs 
give  him  a peculiar  value  among  historians 
of  political  thought.  In  speaking  of  Scot- 
land at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 
he  writes  as  follows : 


64 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


“ It  is  a remarkable  circumstance  that  the 
same  country  should  have  produced  in  the 
same  age  the  most  wonderful  specimens  of 
both  extremes  of  human  nature.  Even  in 
things  indifferent  the  Scotch  Puritan  would 
hear  of  no  compromise ; and  he  was  but  too 
ready  to  consider  all  who  recommended  pru- 
dence and  charity  as  traitors  to  the  cause  of 
truth.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Scotchmen 
of  that  generation  who  made  a figure  in  Par- 
liament were  the  most  dishonest  and  un- 
blushing time-servers  that  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  Perhaps  it  is  natural  that  the 
most  callous  and  impudent  vice  should  be 
found  in  the  near  neighborhood  of  unrea- 
sonable and  impracticable  virtue.  Where 
enthusiasts  are  ready  to  destroy  or  be  de- 
stroyed for  trifles  magnified  into  importance 
by  a squeamish  conscience,  it  is  not  strange 
that  the  very  name  of  conscience  should  be- 
come a byword  of  contempt  to  cool  and 
shrewd  men  of  business.” 

What  he  says  of  Scotland  in  the  time  of 
King  James  and  King  William  is  true,  word 
for  word,  of  civic  life  in  New  York  two  cen- 
turies later.  We  see  in  New  York  sodden 
masses  of  voters  manipulated  by  clever,  un- 
scrupulous, and  utterly  selfish  masters  of 
machine  politics.  Against  them  we  see,  it 
is  true,  masses  of  voters  who  both  know  how 
to,  and  do,  strive  for  righteousness ; but  we 


AMONG  EEFORMEES 


55 


see  also  very  many  others  in  whom  the 
capacity  for  self-government  seems  to  have 
atrophied.  They  have  lost  the  power  to  do 
practical  work  by  ceasing  to  exercise  it,  by 
confining  themselves  to  criticism  and  theo- 
rizing, to  intemperate  abuse  and  intemperate 
championship  of  what  they  but  imperfectly 
understand.  The  analogues  of  the  men 
whom  Macaulay  condemns  exist  in  num- 
bers in  New  York,  and  work  evil  in  our 
public  life  for  the  very  reason  that  Macau- 
lay gives.  They  do  not  do  practical  work, 
and  the  extreme  folly  of  their  position 
makes  them  not  infrequently  the  allies  of 
scoundrels  who  cynically  practise  corrup- 
tion. Too  often,  indeed,  they  actually  alien- 
ate from  the  cause  of  decency  keen  and 
honest  men,  who  grow  to  regard  all  move- 
ments for  reform  with  contemptuous  dislike 
because  of  the  folly  and  vanity  of  the  men 
who  in  the  name  of  righteousness  preach 
unwisdom  and  practise  uncharitableness. 
These  men  thus  do  inestimable  damage ; for 
the  reform  spirit,  the  spirit  of  striving  after 
high  ideals,  is  the  breath  of  life  in  our  polit- 
ical institutions;  and  whatever  weakens  it 
by  just  so  much  lessens  the  chance  of  ulti- 
mate success  under  democratic  government. 

Discarding  the  two  extremes,  the  men  who 
deliberately  work  for  evil,  and  the  men  who 
are  unwilling  or  incapable  of  working  for 


66 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


good,  there  remains  the  great  mass  of  men 
who  do  desire  to  be  efficient,  who  do  desire 
to  make  this  world  a better  place  to  live  in, 
and  to  do  what  they  can  toward  achieving 
cleaner  minds  and  more  wholesome  bodies. 
To  these,  after  all,  we  can  only  say:  Strive 
manfully  for  righteousness,  and  strive  so  as 
to  make  your  efforts  for  good  count.  You 
are  not  to  be  excused  if  you  fail  to  try  to 
make  things  better;  and  the  very  phrase 
“ trying  to  make  things  better  ” implies  try- 
ing in  practical  fashion.  One  man’s  capacity 
is  for  one  kind  of  work  and  another  man’s 
capacity  for  another  kind  of  work.  One 
affects  certain  methods  and  another  affects 
entirely  different  methods.  All  this  is  of 
little  concern.  What  is  of  really  vital 
importance  is  that  something  should  be  ac- 
complished, and  that  this  something  should 
be  worthy  of  accomplishment.  The  field  is 
of  vast  size,  and  the  laborers  are  always  too 
few.  There  is  not  the  slightest  excuse  for 
one  sincere  worker  looking  down  upon  an- 
other because  he  chooses  a different  part  of 
the  field  and  different  implements.  It  is  in- 
excusable to  refuse  to  work,  to  work  slackly 
or  perversely,  or  to  mar  the  work  of  others. 

No  man  is  justified  in  doing  evil  on  the 
ground  of  expediency.  He  is  bound  to  do 
all  the  good  possible.  Yet  he  must  consider 
the  question  of  expediency,  in  order  that  he 


AMONG  EEFOEMEES 


67 


may  do  all  the  good  possible,  for  otherwise 
he  will  do  none.  As  soon  as  a politician 
gets  to  the  point  of  thinking  that  in  order 
to  be  “practical”  he  has  got  to  be  base,  he 
has  become  a noxious  member  of  the  body 
politic.  That  species  of  practicability  eats 
into  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  like  a 
cancer,  and  he  who  practises  it  can  no  more 
be  excused  than  an  editor  who  debauches 
public  decency  in  order  to  sell  his  paper. 

We  need  the  worker  in  the  fields  of  social 
and  civic  reform;  the  man  who  is  keenly 
interested  in  some  university  settlement, 
some  civic  club  or  citizens’  association  which 
is  striving  to  elevate  the  standard  of  life. 
We  need  clean,  healthy  newspapers,  with 
clean,  healthy  criticism  which  shall  be  fear- 
less and  truthful.  We  need  upright  politi- 
cians, who  will  take  the  time  and  trouble, 
and  who  possess  the  capacity,  to  manage 
caucuses,  conventions,  and  public  assem- 
blies. We  need  men  who  try  to  be  their 
poorer  brothers’  keepers  to  the  extent  of 
befriending  them  and  working  with  them 
so  far  as  they  are  willing;  men  who  work 
in  charitable  associations,  or,  what  is  even 
better,  strive  to  get  into  touch  with  the 
wage-workers,  to  understand  them,  and  to 
champion  their  cause  when  it  is  just.  We 
need  the  sound  and  healthy  idealist;  the 
theoretic  writer,  preacher,  or  teacher;  the 


68 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


Emerson  or  Phillips  Brooks,  who  helps  to 
create  the  atmosphere  of  enthusiasm  and 
practical  endeavor.  In  public  life  we  need 
not  only  men  who  are  able  to  work  in  and 
through  their  parties,  but  also  upright,  fear- 
less, rational  independents,  who  will  deal 
impartial  justice  to  all  men  and  all  parties. 
We  need  men  who  are  far-sighted  and  reso- 
lute ; men  who  combine  sincerity  with  san- 
ity. We  need  scholarly  men,  too — men  who 
study  all  the  difficult  questions  of  our  politi- 
cal life  from  the  standpoint  both  of  practice 
and  of  theory ; men  who  thus  study  trusts, 
or  municipal  government,  or  finance,  or  tax- 
ation, or  civil-service  reform,  as  the  authors 
of  the  “ Federalist  ” studied  the  problems  of 
federal  government. 

In  closing,  let  me  again  dwell  upon  the 
point  I am  seeking  to  emphasize,  so  that 
there  shall  be  no  chance  of  honest  misun- 
derstanding of  what  I say.  It  is  vital  that 
every  man  who  is  in  politics,  as  a man  ought 
to  be,  with  a disinterested  purpose  to  serve 
the  public,  should  strive  steadily  for  reform ; 
that  he  should  have  the  highest  ideals.  He 
must  lead,  only  he  must  lead  in  the  right 
direction,  and  normally  he  must  be  in  sight 
of  his  followers.  Cynicism  in  public  life  is 
a curse,  and  when  a man  has  lost  the  power 
of  enthusiasm  for  righteousness  it  will  be 
better  for  him  and  the  country  if  he  aban- 
dons public  life. 


AMONG  EEFOKMERS 


59 


Above  all,  the  political  reformer  must  not 
permit  himself  to  be  driven  from  his  duty  of 
supporting  what  is  right  by  any  irritation  at 
the  men  who,  while  nominally  supporting 
the  same  objects,  and  even  ridiculing  him 
as  a backslider  or  an  “ opportunist,”  yet  by 
their  levity  or  fanaticism  do  damage  to  the 
cause  which  he  really  serves,  and  which  they 
profess  to  serve.  Let  him  disregard  them ; 
for  though  they  are,  according  to  their  abil- 
ity, the  foes  of  decent  politics,  yet,  after  all, 
they  are  but  weaklings,  and  the  real  and 
dangerous  enemies  of  the  cause  he  holds 
dear  are  those  sinister  beings  who  batten 
on  the  evil  of  our  political  system,  and  both 
profit  by  its  existence,  and  by  their  own  ex- 
istence tend  to  perpetuate  and  increase  it. 
We  must  not  be  diverted  from  our  warfare 
with  these  powerful  and  efficient  corruption- 
ists by  irritation  at  the  vain  prattlers  who 
think  they  are  at  the  head  of  the  reform 
forces,  whereas  they  are  really  wandering 
in  b3rpaths  in  the  rear. 

The  professional  impracticable,  the  man 
who  sneers  at  the  sane  and  honest  strivers 
after  good,  who  sneers  at  the  men  who  are 
following,  however  humbly,  in  the  footsteps 
of  those  who  worked  for  and  secured  practi- 
cal results  in  the  days  of  Washington,  and 
again  in  the  days  of  Lincoln,  who  denounces 
them  as  time-servers  and  compromisers,  is. 


60 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


of  course,  an  ally  of  corruption.  But,  after 
all,  he  can  generally  be  disregarded,  whereas 
the  real  and  dangerous  foe  is  the  corrupt 
politician,  whom  we  cannot  afford  to  disre- 
gard. When  one  of  these  professional  im- 
practicables  denounces  the  attitude  of  decent 
men  as  “ a hodge-podge  of  the  ideal  and  the 
practicable,”  he  is  amusingly  unaware  that 
he  is  writing  his  own  condemnation,  show- 
ing his  own  inability  to  do  good  work  or  to 
appreciate  good  work.  The  Constitutional 
Convention  over  which  Washington  presided, 
and  which  made  us  a nation,  represented  pre- 
cisely and  exactly  this  “hodge-podge,”  and 
was  frantically  denounced  in  its  day  by  the 
men  of  the  impracticable  type.  Lincoln’s 
career  throughout  the  Civil  War  was  such 
a “hodge-podge,”  and  was  in  its  turn  de- 
nounced in  exactly  the  same  way.  Lincoln 
disregarded  the  jibes  of  these  men,  who  did 
their  puny  best  to  hurt  the  great  cause  for 
which  he  battled;  and  they  never,  by  their 
pin-pricks,  succeeded  in  diverting  him  from 
the  real  foe.  The  fanatical  antislavery 
people  wished  to  hurry  him  into  unwise,  ex- 
treme, and  premature  action,  and  denounced 
him  as  compromising  with  the  forces  of  evil, 
as  being  a practical  politician — which  he  was, 
if  practicality  is  held  to  include  wisdom  and 
high  purpose.  He  did  not  permit  himself  to 
be  affected  by  their  position.  He  did  not 


AMONG  KEFORMEES 


61 


yield  to  what  they  advised  when  it  was  im- 
practicable, nor  did  he  permit  himself  to 
become  prejudiced  against  so  much  of  what 
they  championed  as  was  right  and  practic- 
able. His  ideal  was  just  as  high  as  theirs. 
He  did  not  lower  it.  He  did  not  lose  his 
temper  at  their  conduct,  or  cease  to  strive 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Union ; and  whereas  their  con- 
duct foreboded  disaster  to  both  causes,  his 
efforts  secured  the  success  of  both.  So,  in 
our  turn,  we  of  to-day  are  bound  to  try  to 
tread  in  the  footsteps  of  those  great  Ameri- 
cans who  in  the  past  have  held  a high  ideal 
and  have  striven  mightily  through  practical 
methods  to  realize  that  ideal.  There  must 
be  many  compromises ; but  we  cannot  com- 
promise with  dishonesty,  with  sin.  We 
must  not  be  misled  at  any  time  by  the 
cheap  assertion  that  people  get  only  what 
they  want;  that  the  editor  of  a degraded 
newspaper  is  to  be  excused  because  the  pub- 
lic want  the  degradation;  that  the  city  offi- 
cials who  inaugurate  a “wide-open”  policy 
are  to  be  excused  because  a portion  of  the 
public  likes  vice;  that  the  men  who  jeer 
at  philanthropy  are  to  be  excused  because 
among  philanthropists  there  are  hypocrites, 
and  among  unfortunates  there  are  vicious 
and  unworthy  people.  To  pander  to  de- 
pravity inevitably  means  to  increase  the 


62 


LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE 


depravity.  It  is  a dreadful  thing  that  pub- 
lic sentiment  should  condone  misconduct  in 
a public  man ; but  this  is  no  excuse  for  the 
public  man,  if  by  his  conduct  he  still  further 
degrades  public  sentiment.  There  can  be  no 
meddling  with  the  laws  of  righteousness,  of 
decency,  of  morality.  We  are  in  honor 
bound  to  put  into  practice  what  we  preach ; 
to  remember  that  we  are  not  to  be  excused 
if  we  do  not ; and  that  in  the  last  resort  no 
material  prosperity,  no  business  acumen,  no 
intellectual  development  of  any  kind,  can 
atone  in  the  life  of  a nation  for  the  lack  of 
the  fundamental  qualities  of  courage,  hon- 
esty, and  common  sense. 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS  A POLITICAL 
FACTOR 


Published  m the  “ Centuet,”  Janu-4ey,  1900 


f 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS  A POLITICAL 
FACTOE 


9 

FELLOW-FEELING-,  sympathy  in  the 
broadest  sense,  is  the  most  important 
factor  in  producing  a healthy  political  and 
social  life.  Neither  our  national  nor  our 
local  civic  life  can  be  what  it  should  be  un- 
less it  is  marked  by  the  fellow-feeling,  the 
mutual  kindness,  the  mutual  respect,  the 
sense  of  common  duties  and  common  inter- 
ests, which  arise  when  men  take  the  trouble 
to  understand  one  another,  and  to  associate 
together  for  a common  object.  A very  large 
share  of  the  rancor  of  political  and  social 
strife  arises  either  from  sheer  misunder- 
standing by  one  section,  or  by  one  class,  of 
another,  or  else  from  the  fact  that  the  two 
sections,  or  two  classes,  are  so  cut  off  from 
each  other  that  neither  appreciates  the  other’s 
passions,  prejudices,  and,  indeed,  point  of 
view,  while  they  are  both  entirely  ignorant 
of  their  community  of  feeling  as  regards  the 
essentials  of  manhood  and  humanity. 

This  is  one  reason  why  the  public  school 
is  so  admirable  an  institution.  To  it  more 


66 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


than  to  any  other  among  the  many  causes 
which,  in  our  American  life,  tell  for  reli- 
gious toleration  is  due  the  impossibility  of 
persecution  of  a particular  creed.  When  in 
their  earliest  and  most  impressionable  years 
Protestants,  Catholics,  and  Jews  go  to  the 
same  schools,  learn  the  same  lessons,  play 
the  same  games,  and  are  forced,  in  the  rough- 
and-ready  democracy  of  boy  life,  to  take  each 
at  his  true  worth,  it  is  impossible  later  to 
make  the  disciples  of  one  creed  persecute 
those  of  another.  From  the  evils  of  religious 
persecution  America  is  safe. 

From  the  evils  of  sectional  hostility  we 
are,  at  any  rate,  far  safer  than  we  were. 
The  war  with  Spain  was  the  most  absolutely 
righteous  foreign  war  in  which  any  nation 
has  engaged  during  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  not  the  least  of  its  many  good  features 
was  the  unity  it  brought  about  between  the 
sons  of  the  men  who  wore  the  blue  and  of 
those  who  wore  the  gray.  This  necessarily 
meant  the  dying  out  of  the  old  antipathy. 
Of  course  embers  smolder  here  and  there; 
but  the  country  at  large  is  growing  more 
and  more  to  take  pride  in  the  valor,  the  self- 
devotion,  the  loyalty  to  an  ideal,  displayed 
alike  by  the  soldiers  of  both  sides  in  the 
Civil  War.  We  are  all  united  now.  We  are 
all  glad  that  the  Union  was  restored,  and  are 
one  in  our  loyalty  to  it;  and  hand  in  hand 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


67 


with  this  general  recognition  of  the  all-im- 
portance of  preserving  the  Union  has  gone 
the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  men  could  not  cut 
loose  from  the  ingrained  habits  and  tradi- 
tions of  generations,  and  that  the  man  from 
the  North  and  the  man  from  the  South  each 
was  loyal  to  his  highest  ideal  of  duty  when 
he  drew  sword  or  shouldered  rifle  to  fight  to 
the  death  for  what  he  believed  to  be  right. 

Nor  is  it  only  the  North  and  the  South 
that  have  struck  hands.  The  East  and  the 
West  are  fundamentally  closer  together  than 
ever  before.  Using  the  word  “ West  ” in  the 
old  sense,  as  meaning  the  country  west  of 
the  Alleghanies,  it  is  of  course  perfectly  ob- 
vious that  it  is  the  West  which  will  shape 
the  destinies  of  this  nation.  The  great 
group  of  wealthy  and  powerful  States 
about  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  the 
IVIissouii,  and  their  tributaries,  will  have 
far  more  weight  than  any  other  section  in 
deciding  the  fate  of  the  republic  in  the  cen- 
turies that  are  opening.  This  is  not  in  the 
least  to  be  regretted  by  the  East,  for  the 
simple  and  excellent  reason  that  the  inter- 
ests of  the  West  and  the  East  are  one.  The 
West  will  shape  our  destinies  because  she 
will  have  more  people  and  a greater  terri- 
tory, and  because  the  whole  development  of 
the  Western  country  is  such  as  to  make  it 


68 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


peculiarly  the  exponent  of  all  that  is  most' 
vigorously  and  characteristically  American 
in  our  national  life. 

So  it  is  with  the  Pacific  slope,  and  the 
giant  young  States  that  are  there  growing’ 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  greater  the  share 
they  have  in  directing  the  national  life,  the 
better  it  will  be  for  all  of  us. 

I do  not  for  a moment  mean  that  mistakes 
will  not  be  committed  in  every  section  of 
the  country ; they  certainly  will'  be,  and  in 
whatever  section  they  are  committed  it  will 
be  our  duty  to  protest  against  them,  and  to 
try  to  overthrow  those  who  are  responsible 
for  them : but  I do  mean  to  say  that  in  the 
long  run  each  section  is  going  to  find  that 
its  welfare,  instead  of  being  antagonistic 
to,  is  indissolubly  bound  up  in,  the  wel- 
fare of  other  sections;  and  the  growth  of 
means  of  communication,  the  growth  of  ed- 
ucation in  its  highest  and  finest  sense,  means 
the  growth  in  the  sense  of  solidarity  through- 
out the  country,  in  the  feeling  of  patriotic 
pride  of  each  American  in  the  deeds  of  all 
other  Americans — of  pride  in  the  past  his- 
tory and  present  and  future  greatness  of  the 
whole  country. 

Nobody  is  interested  in  the  fact  that 
Dewey  comes  from  Vermont,  Hobson  from 
Alabama,  or  Funston  from  Kansas.  If  all 
three  came  from  the  same  county  it  would 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


69 


make  no  difference  to  us.  They  are  Ameri- 
cans, and  every  American  has  an  equal  right 
to  challenge  his  share  of  glory  in  their  deeds. 
As  we  read  of  the  famous  feats  of  our  army 
in  the  Philippines,  it  matters  nothing  to  us 
whether  the  regiments  come  from  Oregon, 
Idaho,  California,  Nebraska,  Pennsylvania, 
or  Tennessee.  What  does  matter  is  that 
these  splendid  soldiers  are  all  Americans; 
that  they  are  our  heroes;  that  our  blood 
runs  in  their  veins;  that  the  flag  under 
which  we  live  is  the  flag  for  which  they  have 
fought,  for  which  some  of  them  have  died. 

Danger  from  religious  antipathy  is  dead, 
and  from  sectional  antipathy  dying;  but 
there  are  at  times  very  ugly  manifestations 
of  antipathy  between  class  and  class.  It 
seems  a pity  to  have  to  use  the  word  “ class,” 
because  there  are  really  no  classes  in  our 
American  life  in  the  sense  in  which  the  word 
“ class  ” is  used  in  Europe.  Our  social  and 
political  systems  do  not  admit  of  them  in 
theory,  and  in  practice  they  exist  only  in  a 
very  fluid  state.  In  most  European  coun- 
tries classes  are  separated  by  rigid  boun- 
daries, which  can  be  crossed  but  rarely,  and 
with  the  utmost  difficulty  and  peril.  Here 
the  boundaries  cannot  properly  be  said  to 
exist,  and  are  certainly  so  fluctuating  and 
evasive,  so  indistinctly  marked,  that  they  can- 
not be  appreciated  when  seen  near  by.  Any 


70 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


American  family  whicli  lasts  a few  genera- 
tions will  be  apt  to  have  representatives  in 
all  the  different  classes.  The  great  business 
men,  even  the  great  professional  men,  and 
especially  the  great  statesmen  and  sailors 
and  soldiers,  are  very  apt  to  spring  from 
among  the  farmers  or  wage-workers,  and 
their  kinsfolk  remain  near  the  old  home  or 
at  the  old  trade.  If  ever  there  existed  in  the 
world  a community  where  the  identity  of 
interest,  of  habit,  of  principle,  and  of  ideals 
should  be  felt  as  a living  force,  ours  is  the 
one.  Speaking  generally,  it  really  is  felt  to 
a degree  quite  unknown  in  other  countries 
of  our  size.  There  are,  doubtless,  portions 
of  Norway  and  Switzerland  where  the  social 
and  political  ideals,  and  their  nearness  to 
realization,  are  not  materially  different  from 
those  of  the  most  essentially  American  por- 
tions of  our  own  land;  but  this  is  not  true 
of  any  European  country  of  considerable 
size.  It  is  only  in  American  communities 
that  we  see  the  farmer,  the  hired  man,  the 
lawyer,  and  the  merchant,  and  possibly  even 
the  officer  of  the  army  or  the  navy,  all  kins- 
men, and  all  accepting  their  relations  as  per- 
fectly natural  and  simple.  This  is  eminently 
healthy.  This  is  just  as  it  should  be  in  our 
republic.  It  represents  the  ideal  toward 
which  it  would  be  a good  thing  to  approxi- 
mate everywhere.  In  the  great  industrial 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


71 


centers,  with  their  highly  complex,  highly 
specialized  conditions,  it  is  of  course  merely 
an  ideal.  There  are  parts  even  of  our  oldest 
States,  as,  for  example,  New  York,  where 
this  ideal  is  actually  realized;  there  are 
other  parts,  particularly  the  great  cities, 
where  the  life  is  so  wholly  different  that  the 
attempt  to  live  up  precisely  to  the  country 
conditions  would  be  artificial  and  impossible. 
Nevertheless,  the  fact  remains  that  the  only 
true  solution  of  our  political  and  social  prob- 
lems lies  in  cultivating  everywhere  the  spirit 
of  brotherhood,  of  fellow-feeling  and  under- 
standing between  man  and  man,  and  the 
willingness  to  treat  a man  as  a man,  which 
are  the  essential  factors  in  American  democ- 
racy as  we  still  see  it  in  the  country  districts. 

The  chief  factor  in  producing  such  sym- 
pathy is  simply  association  on  a plane  of 
equahty,  and  for  a common  object.  Any 
healthy-minded  American  is  bound  to  think 
well  of  his  fellow- Americans  if  he  only  gets 
to  know  them.  The  trouble  is  that  he  does 
not  know  them.  If  the  banker  and  the 
farmer  never  meet,  or  meet  only  in  the 
most  perfunctory  business  way,  if  the  bank- 
ing is  not  done  by  men  whom  the  farmer 
knows  as  his  friends  and  associates,  a spirit 
of  mistrust  is  almost  sure  to  spring  up.  If 
the  merchant  or  the  manufacturer,  the  law- 
yer or  the  clerk,  never  meets  the  mechanic 


72 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


or  the  handicraftsman,  save  on  rare  occa- 
sions, when  the  meeting  may  be  of  a hostile 
kind,  each  side  feels  that  the  other  is  alien 
and  naturally  antagonistic.  But  if  any  one 
individual  of  any  group  were  to  be  thrown 
into  natural  association  with  another  group, 
the  difficulties  would  be  found  to  disappear 
so  far  as  he  was  concerned.  Very  possibly 
he  would  become  the  ardent  champion  of 
the  other  group. 

Perhaps  I may  be  pardoned  for  quoting 
my  own  experience  as  an  instance  in  point. 
Outside  of  college  boys  and  politicians  my 
first  intimate  associates  were  ranchmen, 
cow-punchers,  and  game-hunters,  and  I 
speedily  became  convinced  that  there  were 
no  other  men  in  the  country  who  were  their 
equals.  Then  I was  thrown  much  with 
farmers,  and  I made  up  my  mind  that  it 
was  the  farmer  upon  whom  the  foundations 
of  the  commonwealth  really  rested — that 
the  farmer  was  the  archetypical  good  Ameri- 
can. Then  I saw  a good  deal  of  railroad 
men,  and  after  quite  an  intimate  acquain- 
tance with  them  I grew  to  feel  that,  especially 
in  their  higher  ranks,  they  typified  the  very 
qualities  of  courage,  self-reliance,  self-com- 
mand, hardihood,  capacity  for  work,  power 
of  initiative,  and  power  of  obedience,  which 
we  like  most  to  associate  with  the  American 
name.  Then  I happened  to  have  dealings 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


73 


■with  certain  carpenters’  unions,  and  grew  to 
have  a great  respect  for  the  carpenter,  for 
the  mechanic  type.  By  this  time  it  dawned 
upon  me  that  they  were  all  pretty  good  fel- 
lows, and  that  my  championship  of  each  set 
in  succession  above  all  other  sets  had  sprung 
largely  from  the  fact  that  I was  very  familiar 
with  the  set  I championed,  and  less  familiar 
■with  the  remainder.  In  other  words,  I had 
grown  into  sympathy  with,  into  understand- 
ing of,  group  after  group,  with  the  effect 
that  I invariably  found  that  they  and  I had 
common  purposes  and  a common  stand- 
point. We  differed  among  ourselves,  or 
agreed  among  ourselves,  not  because  we 
had  different  occupations  or  the  same  oc- 
cupation, but  because  of  our  ways  of  look- 
ing at  life. 

It  is  this  capacity  for  sympathy,  for 
fellow-feeling  and  mutual  understanding, 
which  must  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  really  suc- 
cessful movements  for  good  government  and 
the  betterment  of  social  and  civic  conditions. 
There  is  no  patent  device  for  bringing  about 
good  government.  Still  less  is  there  any 
patent  device  for  remedying  social  evils  and 
doing  away  with  social  inequalities.  Wise 
legislation  can  help  in  each  case,  and  crude, 
vicious,  or  demagogic  legislation  can  do  an 
infinity  of  harm.  But  the  betterment  must 
come  through  the  slow  workings  of  the  same 


74 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


forces  which  always  have  tended  for  right- 
eousness, and  always  will. 

The  prime  lesson  to  be  taught  is  the  lesson 
of  treating  each  man  on  his  worth  as  a man, 
and  of  remembering  that  while  sometimes 
it  is  necessary,  from  both  a legislative  and 
social  standpoint,  to  consider  men  as  a class, 
yet  in  the  long  run  our  safety  lies  in  recog- 
nizing the  individual’s  worth  or  lack  of 
worth  as  the  chief  basis  of  action,  and  in 
shaping  our  whole  conduct,  and  especially 
our  political  conduct,  accordingly.  It  is 
impossible  for  a democracy  to  endure  if  the 
political  lines  are  drawn  to  coincide  with 
class  lines.  The  resulting  government, 
whether  of  the  upper  or  the  lower  class, 
is  not  a government  of  the  whole  people, 
but  a government  of  part  of  the  people  at 
the  expense  of  the  rest.  Where  the  lines  of 
political  division  are  vertical,  the  men  of 
each  occupation  and  of  every  social  stand- 
ing separating  according  to  their  vocations 
and  principles,  the  result  is  healthy  and 
normal.  Just  so  far,  however,  as  the  lines 
are  drawn  horizontally,  the  result  is  un- 
healthy, and  in  the  long  run  disastrous,  for 
such  a division  means  that  men  are  pitted 
against  one  another  in  accordance  with  the 
blind  and  selfish  interests  of  the  moment. 
Each  is  thus  placed  over  against  his  neigh- 
bor in  an  attitude  of  greedy  class  hostility, 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


75 


■whicli  becomes  the  mainspring  of  bis  con- 
duct, instead  of  eacb  basing  bis  political 
action  upon  bis  own  convictions  as  to  wbat 
is  advisable  and  wbat  inadvisable,  and  upon 
bis  own  disinterested  sense  of  devotion  to 
tbe  interests  of  tbe  whole  community  as  be 
sees  tbem.  Eepublics  bave  fallen  in  tbe 
past  primarily  because  tbe  parties  that  con- 
trolled tbem  divided  along  tbe  lines  of  class, 
so  that  inevitably  tbe  triumph  of  one  or  tbe 
other  implied  tbe  supremacy  of  a part  over 
tbe  whole.  Tbe  result  might  be  an  oligarchy, 
or  it  might  be  mob  rule;  it  mattered  little 
which,  as  regards  tbe  ultimate  effect,  for  in 
both  cases  tyranny  and  anarchy  were  sure 
to  alternate.  Tbe  failure  of  tbe  Greek  and 
Italian  republics  was  fundamentally  due  to 
this  cause.  Switzerland  has  flourished  be- 
cause tbe  divisions  upon  which  her  political 
issues  have  been  fought  have  not  been  pri- 
marily those  of  mere  caste  or  social  class,  and 
America  will  flourish  and  will  become  greater 
than  any  empire  because,  in  the  long  run, 
in  this  country,  any  party  which  strives  to 
found  itself  upon  sectional  or  class  jealousy 
and  hostility  must  go  down  before  the  good 
sense  of  the  people. 

The  only  way  to  provide  against  the  evils 
of  a horizontal  cleavage  in  politics  is  to  en- 
courage the  growth  of  fellow-feeling,  of  a 
feeling  based  on  the  relations  of  man  to 


76 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


man,  and  not  of  class  to  class.  In  the  coun- 
try districts  this  is  not  very  difficult.  In 
the  neighborhood  where  I live,  on  the  Fourth 
of  July  the  four  Protestant  ministers  and 
the  Catholic  priest  speak  from  the  same 
platform,  the  children  of  all  of  us  go  to  the 
same  district  school,  and  the  landowner  and 
the  hired  man  take  the  same  views,  not 
merely  of  politics,  but  of  duck-shooting  and 
of  international  yacht  races.  Naturally  in 
such  a community  there  is  small  chance  for 
class  division.  There  is  a slight  feeling 
against  the  mere  summer  residents,  pre- 
cisely because  there  is  not  much  sympathy 
with  them,  and  because  they  do  not  share 
in  our  local  interests;  but  otherwise  there 
are  enough  objects  in  common  to  put  all 
much  on  the  same  plane  of  interest  in  vari- 
ous important  particulars,  and  each  man  has 
too  much  self-respect  to  feel  particularly 
jealous  of  any  other  man.  Moreover,  as 
the  community  is  small  and  consists  for  the 
most  part  of  persons  who  have  dwelt  long 
in  the  land,  while  those  of  foreign  ancestry, 
instead  of  keeping  by  themselves,  have  in- 
termarried with  the  natives,  there  is  still  a 
realizing  sense  of  kinship  among  the  men 
who  follow  the  different  occupations.  The 
characteristic  family  names  are  often  borne 
by  men  of  widely  different  fortunes,  ranging 
from  the  local  bayman  through  the  captain 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


77 


of  tlie  oyster-sloop,  the  sail-maker,  or  the 
wheelwright,  to  the  owner  of  what  the  coun- 
tryside may  know  as  the  manor-house — 
which  probably  contains  one  of  the  innu- 
merable rooms  in  which  Washington  is  said 
to  have  slept.  We  have  sharp  rivalries,  and 
our  politics  are  by  no  means  always  what 
they  should  be,  but  at  least  we  do  not  di- 
vide on  class  lines,  for  the  very  good  reason 
that  there  has  been  no  crystallization  into 
classes. 

This  condition  prevails  in  essentials 
throughout  the  country  districts  of  New 
York,  which  are  politically  very  much  the 
healthiest  districts.  Any  man  who  has 
served  in  the  legislature  realizes  that  the 
country  members  form,  on  the  whole,  a 
very  sound  and  healthy  body  of  legislators. 
Any  man  who  has  gone  about  much  to  the 
county  fairs  in  New  York—almost  the  only 
place  where  the  farm  folks  gather  in  large 
numbers— cannot  but  have  been  struck  by 
the  high  character  of  the  average  country- 
man. He  is  a fine  fellow,  rugged,  hard- 
working, shrewd,  and  keenly  alive  to  the 
fundamental  virtues.  He  and  his  brethren 
of  the  smaller  towns  and  villages,  in  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  take  very  little  account, 
indeed,  of  any  caste  difference;  they  greet 
each  man  strictly  on  his  merits  as  a man, 
and  therefore  form  a community  in  which 


78 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


there  is  singularly  little  caste  spirit,  and  in 
which  men  associate  on  a thoroughly  healthy 
and  American  ground  of  common  ideals,  com- 
mon convictions,  and  common  sympathies. 

Unfortunately,  this  cannot  be  said  of  the 
larger  cities,  where  the  conditions  of  life  are 
so  complicated  that  there  has  been  an  ex- 
treme differentiation  and  specialization  in 
every  species  of  occupation,  whether  of  busi- 
ness or  pleasure.  The  people  of  a certain 
degree  of  wealth  and  of  a certain  occupation 
may  never  come  into  any  real  contact  with 
the  people  of  another  occupation,  of  another 
social  standing.  The  tendency  is  for  the 
relations  always  to  be  between  class  and 
class  instead  of  between  individual  and  in- 
dividual. This  produces  the  thoroughly 
unhealthy  belief  that  it  is  for  the  interest 
of  one  class  as  against  another  to  have  its 
class  representatives  dominant  in  public  life. 
The  ills  of  any  such  system  are  obvious. 
As  a matter  of  fact,  the  enormous  mass  of 
our  legislation  and  administration  ought  to 
be  concerned  with  matters  that  are  strictly 
for  the  commonweal;  and  where  special 
legislation  or  administration  is  needed,  as 
it  often  must  be,  for  a certain  class,  the 
need  can  be  met  primarily  by  mere  honesty 
and  common  sense.  But  if  men  are  elected 
solely  from  any  caste,  or  on  any  caste  theory, 
the  voter  gradually  substitutes  the  theory  of 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


79 


allegiance  to  the  caste  for  the  theory  of  al- 
legiance to  the  commonwealth  as  a whole, 
and  instead  of  demanding  as  fundamental 
the  qualities  of  probity  and  broad  intelli- 
gence— which  are  the  indispensable  qualities 
in  securing  the  welfare  of  the  whole — as  the 
first  consideration,  he  demands,  as  a substi- 
tute, zeal  in  the  service,  or  apparent  service, 
of  the  class,  which  is  quite  compatible  with 
gi’oss  corruption  outside.  In  short,  we  get 
back  to  the  conditions  which  foredoomed 
democracy  to  failure  in  the  ancient  Greek 
and  medieval  republics,  where  party  lines 
were  horizontal  and  class  warred  against 
class,  each  in  consequence  necessarily  sub- 
stituting devotion  to  the  interest  of  a class 
for  devotion  to  the  interest  of  the  state  and 
to  the  elementary  ideas  of  morality. 

The  only  way  to  avoid  the  growth  of  these 
evils  is,  so  far  as  may  be,  to  help  in  the  cre- 
ation of  conditions  which  will  permit  mutual 
understanding  and  fellow-feeling  between 
the  members  of  different  classes.  To  do 
this  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  there 
should  be  natural  association  between  the 
members  for  a common  end  or  with  a com- 
mon purpose.  As  long  as  men  are  separated 
by  their  caste  lines,  each  body  having  its  own 
amusements,  interests,  and  occupations,  they 
are  certain  to  regard  one  another  with  that 
instinctive  distrust  which  they  feel  for  for- 


80 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


eigners.  There  are  exceptions  to  the  rule, 
but  it  is  a rule.  The  average  man,  when  he 
has  no  means  of  being  brought  into  contact 
with  another,  or  of  gaining  any  insight  into 
that  other’s  ideas  and  aspirations,  either 
ignores  these  ideas  and  aspirations  com- 
pletely, or  else  feels  toward  them  a more  or 
less  tepid  dislike.  The  result  is  a complete 
and  perhaps  fatal  misunderstanding,  due  pri- 
marily to  the  fact  that  the  capacity  for  fel- 
low-feeling is  given  no  opportunity  to  flour- 
ish. On  the  other  hand,  if  the  men  can  be 
mixed  together  in  some  way  that  will  loosen 
the  class  or  caste  bonds  and  put  each  on  his 
merits  as  an  individual  man,  there  is  certain 
to  be  a regrouping  independent  of  caste 
lines.  A tie  may  remain  between  the  mem- 
bers of  a caste,  based  merely  upon  the  simi- 
larity of  their  habits  of  life ; but  this  will  be 
much  less  strong  than  the  ties  based  on 
identity  of  passion,  of  principle,  or  of  ways 
of  looking  at  life.  Any  man  who  has  ever, 
for  his  good  fortune,  been  obliged  to  work 
with  men  in  masses,  in  some  place  or  under 
some  condition  or  in  some  association  where 
the  dislocation  of  caste  was  complete,  must 
recognize  the  truth  of  this  as  apparent. 
Every  mining-camp,  every  successful  volun- 
teer regiment,  proves  it.  In  such  cases  there 
is  always  some  object  which  must  be  at- 
tained, and  the  men  interested  in  its  attain- 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


81 


ment  have  to  develop  their  own  leaders  and 
their  own  ties  of  association,  while  the  would- 
be  leader  can  succeed  only  by  selecting  for 
assistants  the  men  whose  peculiar  capacities 
fit  them  to  do  the  best  work  in  the  various 
emergencies  that  arise.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances the  men  who  work  together  for 
the  achievement  of  a common  result  in  which 
they  are  intensely  interested  are  very  soon 
certain  to  disregard,  and,  indeed,  to  forget, 
the  creed  or  race  origin  or  antecedent  social 
standing  or  class  occupation  of  the  man  who 
is  either  their  friend  or  their  foe.  They  get 
down  to  the  naked  bed-rock  of  character  and 
capacity. 

This  is  to  a large  extent  true  of  the  party 
organizations  in  a great  city,  and,  indeed,  of 
all  serious  political  organizations.  If  they 
are  to  be  successful  they  must  necessarily  be 
democratic,  in  the  sense  that  each  man  is 
treated  strictly  on  his  merits  as  a man.  No 
one  can  succeed  who  attempts  to  go  in  on 
any  other  basis;  above  all,  no  one  can  suc- 
ceed if  he  goes  in  feeling  that,  instead  of 
merely  doing  his  duty,  he  is  conferring  a 
favor  upon  the  community,  and  is  therefore 
warranted  in  adopting  an  attitude  of  con- 
descension toward  his  fellows.  It  is  often 
quite  as  irritating  to  be  patronized  as  to  be 
plundered;  as  reformers  have  more  than 

once  discovered  when  the  mass  of  the  voters 
6 


82 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


stolidly  voted  against  them,  and  in  favor  of  a 
gang  of  familiar  scoundrels,  chiefly  because 
they  had  no  sense  of  fellow-feeling  with  their 
would-be  benefactors. 

The  tendency  to  patronize  is  certain  to  be 
eradicated  as  soon  as  any  man  goes  into 
politics  in  a practical  and  not  in  a dilettante 
fashion.  He  speedily  finds  that  the  quality 
of  successful  management,  the  power  to 
handle  men  and  secure  results,  may  exist  in 
seemingly  unlikely  persons.  If  he  intends 
to  carry  a caucus  or  primary,  or  elect  a given 
candidate,  or  secure  a certain  piece  of  legis- 
lation or  administration,  he  will  have  to  find 
out  and  work  with  innumerable  allies,  and 
make  use  of  innumerable  subordinates. 
Given  that  he  and  they  have  a common 
object,  the  one  test  that  he  must  apply  to 
them  is  as  to  their  ability  to  help  in  achiev- 
ing that  object.  The  result  is  that  in  a very 
short  time  the  men  whose  purposes  are  the 
same  forget  about  all  differences,  save  in 
capacity  to  carry  out  the  purpose.  The 
banker  who  is  interested  in  seeing  a certain 
nomination  made  or  a certain  election  car- 
ried forgets  everything  but  his  community 
of  interest  with  the  retail  butcher  who  is  a 
leader  along  his  section  of  the  avenue,  or 
the  starter  who  can  control  a considerable 
number  of  the  motormen ; and  in  return  the 
butcher  and  the  starter  accept  the  banker 


APOLITICAL  FACTOR 


83 


quite  naturally  as  an  ally  whom  they  may 
follow  or  lead,  as  circumstances  dictate.  In 
other  words,  all  three  grow  to  feel  in  com- 
mon on  certain  important  subjects,  and  this 
fellow-feeling  has  results  as  far-reaching  as 
they  are  healthy. 

Giood  thus  follows  from  mere  ordinary 
political  affiliation.  A man  who  has  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  political  life  of  a great 
city  possesses  an  incalculable  advantage  over 
his  fellow-citizens  who  have  not  so  taken 
part,  because  normally  he  has  more  under- 
standing than  they  can  possibly  have  of  the 
attitude  of  mind,  the  passions,  prejudices, 
hopes,  and  animosities  of  his  fellow-citizens, 
with  whom  he  would  not  ordinarily  bebrought 
into  business  or  social  contact.  Of  course 
there  are  plenty  of  exceptions  to  this  rule. 
A man  who  is  drawn  into  politics  from  ab- 
solutely selfish  reasons,  and  especially  a rich 
man  who  merely  desires  to  buy  political 
promotion,  may  know  absolutely  nothing 
that  is  of  value  as  to  any  but  the  basest  side 
of  the  human  nature  with  which  his  sphere 
of  contact  has  been  enlarged;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  a wise  employer  of  labor,  or  a 
philanthropist  in  whom  zeal  and  judgment 
balance  each  other,  may  know  far  more  than 
most  politicians.  But  the  fact  remains  that 
the  effect  of  political  life,  and  of  the  associ- 
ations that  it  brings,  is  of  very  great  benefit 


84 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


in  producing  a better  understanding  and  a 
keener  fellow-feeling  among  men  who  other- 
wise would  know  one  another  not  at  all,  or 
else  as  members  of  alien  bodies  or  classes. 

This  being  the  case,  how  much  more  is  it 
true  if  the  same  habit  of  association  for  a 
common  purpose  can  be  applied  where  the 
purpose  is  really  of  the  highest ! Much  is 
accomplished  in  this  way  by  the  university 
settlements  and  similar  associations.  Where- 
ever  these  associations  are  entered  into  in  a 
healthy  and  sane  spirit,  the  good  they  do  is 
incalculable,  from  the  simple  fact  that  they 
bring  together  in  pursuit  of  a worthy  com- 
mon object  men  of  excellent  character,  who 
would  never  otherwise  meet.  It  is  of  just 
as  much  importance  to  the  one  as  to  the 
other  that  the  man  from  Hester  Street  or  the 
Bowery  or  Avenue  B,  and  the  man  from 
the  Riverside  Drive  or  Fifth  Avenue,  should 
have  some  meeting-ground  where  they  can 
grow  to  understand  one  another  as  an  inci- 
dent of  working  for  a common  end.  Of 
course  if,  on  the  one  hand,  the  work  is  en- 
tered into  in  a patronizing  spirit,  no  good 
will  result;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
zealous  enthusiast  loses  his  sanity,  only 
harm  will  follow.  There  is  much  dreadful 
misery  in  a great  city,  and  a high-spirited, 
generous  young  man,  when  first  brought 
into  contact  with  it,  has  his  sympathies  so 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


85 


excited  that  he  is  very  apt  to  become  a so- 
cialist, or  turn  to  the  advocacy  of  any  wild 
scheme,  courting  a plunge  from  bad  to  worse, 
exactly  as  do  too  many  of  the  leaders  of  the 
discontent  around  him.  His  sanity  and  cool- 
headedness  will  be  thoroughly  tried,  and  if 
he  loses  them  his  power  for  good  will 
vanish. 

But  this  is  merely  to  state  one  form  of  a 
general  truth.  If  a man  permits  largeness 
of  heart  to  degenerate  into  softness  of  head, 
he  inevitably  becomes  a nuisance  in  any  re- 
lation of  life.  If  sympathy  becomes  dis- 
torted and  morbid,  it  hampers  instead  of 
helping  the  effort  toward  social  betterment. 
Yet  without  sympathy,  without  fellow-feel- 
ing, no  permanent  good  can  be  accomplished. 
In  any  healthy  community  there  must  be  a 
solidarity  of  sentiment  and  a knowledge  of 
solidarity  of  interest  among  the  different 
members.  Where  this  solidarity  ceases  to 
exist,  where  there  is  no  fellow-feeling,  the 
community  is  ripe  for  disaster.  Of  course 
the  feUow-feeling  may  be  of  value  much  in 
proportion  as  it  is  unconscious.  A senti- 
i ment  that  is  easy  and  natural  is  far  better 
than  one  which  has  to  be  artificially  stimu- 
lated. But  the  artificial  stimulus  is  better 
than  none,  and  with  fellow-feeling,  as  with 
all  other  emotions,  what  is  started  artificially 
may  become  quite  natural  in  its  continuance. 


86 


FELLOW-FEELING  AS 


"Witli  most  men  courage  is  largely  an  ac- 
quired habit,  and  on  the  first  occasions  when 
it  is  called  for  it  necessitates  the  exercise  of 
will-power  and  self-control ; but  by  exercise 
it  gradually  becomes  almost  automatic. 

So  it  is  with  fellow-feeling.  A man  who 
conscientiously  endeavors  to  throw  in  his  lot 
with  those  about  him,  to  make  his  interests 
theirs,  to  put  himself  in  a position  where  he 
and  they  have  a common  object,  will  at  first 
feel  a little  self-conscious,  will  realize  too 
plainly  his  own  aims.  But  with  exercise 
this  will  pass  off.  He  will  speedily  find  that 
the  fellow-feeling  which  at  first  he  had  to 
stimulate  was  really  existent,  though  latent, 
and  is  capable  of  a very  healthy  growth.  It 
can,  of  course,  become  normal  only  when  the 
man  himself  becomes  genuinely  interested 
in  the  object  which  he  and  his  fellows  are 
striving  to  attain.  It  is  therefore  obviously 
desirable  that  this  object  should  possess  a 
real  and  vital  interest  for  every  one.  Such 
is  the  case  with  a proper  political  association. 

Much  has  been  done,  not  merely  by  the 
ordinary  political  associations,  but  by  the 
city  clubs,  civic  federations,  and  the  like, 
and  very  much  more  can  be  done.  Of  course 
there  is  danger  of  any  such  association  being 
perverted  either  by  knavery  or  folly.  When 
a partizan  political  organization  becomes 
merely  an  association  for  purposes  of  plun- 


A POLITICAL  FACTOR 


87 


der  and  patronage,  it  may  be  a menace  in- 
stead of  a help  to  a community;  and  when 
a non-partizan  political  organization  falls 
under  the  control  of  the  fantastic  extremists 
always  attracted  to  such  movements,  in  its 
turn  it  becomes  either  useless  or  noxious. 
But  if  these  organizations,  partizan  or  non- 
partizan,  are  conducted  along  the  lines  of 
sanity  and  honesty,  they  produce  a good 
more  far-reaching  than  their  promoters  sup- 
pose, and  achieve  results  of  greater  impor- 
tance than  those  immediately  aimed  at. 

It  is  an  excellent  thing  to  win  a triumph 
for  good  government  at  a given  election; 
but  it  is  a far  better  thing  gradually  to  build 
up  that  spirit  of  fellow-feeling  among  Ameri- 
can citizens,  which,  in  the  long  run,  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  if  we  are  to  see  the  principles 
of  virile  honesty  and  robust  common  sense 
triumph  in  our  civic  life. 


I 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 

Published  in  the  “ Century, ” October,  1900 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


9 

IN  Mr.  Lecky’s  profoundly  suggestive 
book,  “The  Map  of  Life,”  referred  to 
by  me  in  a former  article,  he  emphasizes 
the  change  that  has  been  gradually  coming 
over  the  religious  attitude  of  the  world  be- 
cause of  the  growing  importance  laid  upon 
conduct  as  compared  with  dogma.  In  this 
country  we  are  long  past  the  stage  of  re- 
garding it  as  any  part  of  the  state’s  duty  to 
enforce  a particular  religious  dogma;  and 
more  and  more  the  professors  of  the  different 
creeds  themselves  are  beginning  tacitly  to 
acknowledge  that  the  prime  worth  of  a creed 
is  to  be  gaged  by  the  standard  of  conduct  it 
exacts  among  its  followers  toward  their  fel- 
lows. The  creed  which  each  man  in  his 
heart  believes  to  be  essential  to  his  own 
salvation  is  for  him  alone  to  determine ; but 
we  have  a right  to  pass  judgment  upon  his 
actions  toward  those  about  him. 

Tried  by  this  standard,  the  religious  teach- 
ers of  the  community  stand  most  honorably 
high.  It  is  probable  that  no  other  class  of 

91 


92 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


OTir  citizens  do  anything  like  the  amount  of 
disinterested  labor  for  their  fellow-men.  To 
those  who  are  associated  with  them  at  close 
quarters  this  statement  will  seem  so  obvi- 
ously a truism  as  to  rank  among  the  plati- 
tudes. But  there  is  a far  from  inconsiderable 
body  of  public  opinion  which,  to  judge  by 
the  speeches,  writings,  and  jests  in  which  it 
delights,  has  no  conception  of  this  state  of 
things.  If  such  people  would  but  take  the 
trouble  to  follow  out  the  actual  life  of  a hard- 
worked  clergyman  or  priest,  I think  they 
would  become  a little  ashamed  of  the  tone 
of  flippancy  they  are  so  prone  to  adopt  when 
speaking  about  them. 

In  the  country  districts  the  minister  of  the 
gospel  is  normally  the  associate  and  leader 
of  his  congregation  and  in  close  personal 
touch  with  them.  He  shares  in  and  par- 
tially directs  their  intellectual  and  moral 
life,  and  is  responsive  to  their  spiritual  needs. 
If  they  are  prosperous,  he  is  prosperous.  If 
the  community  be  poor  and  hard-working,  he 
shares  the  poverty  and  works  as  hard  as  any 
one.  As  fine  a figure  as  I can  call  to  mind 
is  that  of  one  such  country  clergyman  in  a 
poor  farming  community  not  far  from  the 
capital  of  the  State  of  New  York— a vigor- 
ous old  man,  who  works  on  his  farm  six  days 
in  the  week,  and  on  the  seventh  preaches 
what  he  himself  has  been  practising.  The 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


93 


farm  work  does  not  occupy  all  of  the  week- 
days, for  there  is  not  a spiritual  need  of  his 
parishioners  that  he  neglects.  He  visits 

them,  looks  after  them  if  they  are  sick,  bap- 
tizes the  children,  comforts  those  in  sorrow, 
and  is  ready  with  shrewd  advice  for  those 
who  need  aid ; in  short,  shows  himself  from 
week’s  end  to  week’s  end  a thoroughly  sin- 
cere, earnest,  hard-working  old  Christian. 
This  is  perhaps  the  healthiest  type.  It  is  in 
keeping  with  the  surroundings,  for  in  the 
country  districts  the  quality  of  self-help  is 
very  highly  developed,  and  there  is  little  use 
for  the  great  organized  charities.  Neighbors 
know  one  another.  The  poorest  and  the 
richest  are  more  or  less  in  touch,  and  chari- 
table feelings  find  a natural  and  simple 
expression  in  the  homely  methods  of  per- 
forming charitable  duties.  This  does  not 
mean  that  there  is  not  room  for  an  immense 
amount  of  work  in  country  communities  and 
in  villages  and  small  towns.  Every  now  and 

then,  in  traveling  over  the  State,  one  comes 
upon  a public  library,  a Young  Men’s  Chris- 
tian Association  building,  or  some  similar 
structure  which  has  been  put  up  by  a man 
born  in  the  place,  who  has  made  his  money 
elsewhere,  and  feels  he  would  like  to  have 
some  memorial  in  his  old  home.  Such  a gift 
is  of  far-reaching  benefit.  Almost  better  is 
what  is  done  in  the  way  of  circulating  libra- 


94 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


ries  and  the  like  by  the  united  action  of  those 
men  and  women  who  appreciate  clearly  the 
intellectual  needs  of  the  people  who  live  far 
from  the  great  centers  of  our  rather  feverish 
modern  civilization ; for  in  country  life  it  is 
necessary  to  guard,  not  against  mental  fever, 
but  against  lack  of  mental  stimulus  and  in- 
terests. 

In  cities  the  conditions  are  very  different, 
both  as  regards  the  needs  and  as  regards  the 
way  it  is  possible  to  meet  these  needs.  There 
is  much  less  feeling  of  essential  community 
of  interest,  and  poverty  of  the  body  is  lam- 
entably visible  among  great  masses.  There 
are  districts  populated  to  the  point  of  con- 
gestion, where  hardly  any  one  is  above  the 
level  of  poverty,  though  this  poverty  does 
not  by  any  means  always  imply  misery. 
Where  it  does  mean  misery  it  must  be  met 
by  organization,  and,  above  all,  by  the  dis- 
interested, endless  labor  of  those  who,  by 
choice,  and  to  do  good,  live  in  the  midst  of 
it,  temporarily  or  permanently.  Very  many 
men  and  women  spend  part  of  their  lives  or 
do  part  of  their  life-work  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, and  conspicuous  among  them 
are  clergymen  and  priests. 

Only  those  who  have  seen  something  of 
such  work  at  close  quarters  realize  how  much 
of  it  goes  on  quietly  and  without  the  slight- 
est outside  show,  and  how  much  it  repre- 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


95 


sents  to  many  lives  that  else  would  be  passed 
in  gray  squalor.  It  is  not  necessary  to  give 
the  names  of  the  living,  or  I could  enumerate 
among  my  personal  acquaintance  fifty 
clergymen  and  priests,  men  of  every  church, 
of  every  degree  of  wealth,  each  of  whom 
cheerfully  and  quietly,  year  in  and  year  out, 
does  his  share,  and  more  than  his  share,  of 
the  unending  work  which  he  feels  is  imposed 
upon  him  alike  by  Christianity  and  by  that 
form  of  applied  Christianity  which  we  call 
good  citizenship.  Far  more  than  that  num- 
ber of  women,  in  and  out  of  religious  bodies, 
who  do  to  the  full  as  much  work,  could  be 
mentioned.  Of  course,  for  every  one  thus 
mentioned  there  would  be  a hundred,  or 
many  hundreds,  unmentioned.  Perhaps 
there  is  no  harm  in  alluding  to  one  man  who 
is  dead.  Yery  early  in  my  career  as  a police 
commissioner  of  the  city  of  New  York  I was 
brought  in  contact  with  Father  Casserly  of 
the  Paulist  Fathers.  After  he  had  made  up 
his  mind  that  I was  really  trying  to  get 
things  decent  in  the  department,  and  to  see 
that  law  and  order  prevailed,  and  that  crime 
and  vice  were  warred  against  in  practical 
fashion,  he  became  very  intimate  with  me, 
helping  me  in  every  way,  and  unconsciously 
giving  me  an  insight  into  his  own  work  and 
his  own  character.  Continually,  in  one  way 
and  another,  I came  across  what  Father  Cas- 


96 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


serly  was  doing,  always  in  the  way  of 
showing  the  intense  human  sympathy  and 
interest  he  was  taking  in  the  lives  about 
him.  If  one  of  the  boys  of  a family  was 
wild,  it  was  Father  Casserly  who  planned 
methods  of  steadying  him.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  a steady  boy  met  with  some  misfor- 
tune,— lost  his  place,  or  something  of  the 
kind, — it  was  Father  Casserly  who  went  and 
stated  the  facts  to  the  employer.  The  Paul- 
ist  Fathers  had  always  been  among  the  most 
efficient  foes  of  the  abuses  of  the  liquor  traffic. 
They  never  hesitated  to  interfere  with  sa- 
loons, dance-houses,  and  the  like.  One  se- 
cret of  their  influence  with  our  Police  Board 
was  that,  as  they  continually  went  about 
among  their  people  and  knew  them  aU,  and 
as  they  were  entirely  disinterested,  they 
could  be  trusted  to  tell  who  did  right  and 
who  did  wrong  among  the  instruments  of 
the  law.  One  of  the  perplexing  matters  in 
dealing  with  policemen  is  that,  as  they  are 
always  in  hostile  contact  with  criminals  and 
would-be  criminals,  who  are  sure  to  lie 
about  them,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  tell 
when  accusations  against  them  are  false  and 
when  they  are  true ; for  the  good  man  who 
does  his  duty  is  certain  to  have  scoundrelly 
foes,  and  the  bad  man  who  blackmails  these 
same  scoundrels  usually  has  nothing  but  the 
same  evidence  against  him.  But  Father 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


97 


Casserly  and  the  rest  of  his  order  knew  the 
policemen  personally,  and  we  found  we  could 
trust  them  implicitly  to  tell  exactly  who  was 
good  and  who  was  not.  Whether  the  man 
were  Protestant,  Catholic,  or  Jew,  if  he  was 
a faithful  public  servant  they  would  so  re- 
port him ; and  if  he  was  unfaithful  he  would 
be  reported  as  such  wholly  without  regard 
to  his  creed.  We  had  this  experience  with 
an  honorably  large  number  of  priests  and 
clergymen.  Once  in  the  same  batch  of  pro- 
motions from  sergeant  to  captain  there  was 
a Protestant  to  whom  our  attention  had  been 
drawn  by  the  earnest  praise  of  Fathers  Cas- 
serly and  Doyle,  and  a Catholic  who  had  first 
been  brought  to  our  notice  by  the  advocacy 
of  Bishop  Potter. 

There  were  other  ways  in  which  clergymen 
helped  our  Police  Board.  We  wanted  at  one 
time  to  get  plenty  of  strong,  honest  young 
men  for  the  police  force,  and  did  not  want 
to  draw  them  from  among  the  ordinary 
types  of  ward  heeler.  Two  fertile  recruiting- 
grounds  proved  to  be,  one  a Catholic  church 
and  the  other  a Methodist  church.  The  rec- 
tor of  the  former.  Dr.  Wall,  had  a temper- 
ance lyceum  for  the  young  men  of  his  parish ; 
the  pastor  of  the  latter  had  a congregation 
made  out  of  a bit  of  old  native  America  sud- 
denly overlapped  by  the  growth  of  the  city, 
and  his  wheelwrights,  ship-carpenters,  bay- 

7 


98 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


men,  and  coasting-sailors  gave  us  the  same 
good  type  of  officer  that  we  got  from  among 
the  mechanics,  motormen,  and  blacksmiths 
who  came  from  Dr.  Wall’s  lyceum.  Among 
our  other  close  friends  was  another  Metho- 
dist preacher,  who  had  once  been  a reporter, 
but  who  had  felt  stirred  by  an  irresistible 
impulse  to  leave  his  profession  and  devote 
his  life  to  the  East  Side,  where  he  ministered 
to  the  wants  of  those  who  would  not  go  to 
the  fashionable  churches,  and  for  whom  no 
other  church  was  especially  prepared.  In 
connection  with  his  work,  one  of  the  things 
that  was  especially  pleasing  was  the  way  in 
which  he  had  gone  in  not  only  with  the  rest  of 
the  Protestant  clergy  and  the  non-sectarian 
philanthropic  workers  of  the  district,  but 
with  the  Catholic  clergy,  joining  hands  in 
the  fight  against  the  seething  evils  of  the 
slum.  One  of  his  Catholic  allies,  by  the  way, 
a certain  Brother  A , was  doing  an  im- 

mense amount  for  the  Italian  children  of  his 
parish.  He  had  a large  parochial  school, 
originally  attended  by  the  children  of  Irish 
parents.  Gradually  the  Irish  had  moved  up- 
town, and  had  been  supplanted  by  the  Ital- 
ians. It  was  his  life-work  to  lift  these  little 
Italians  over  the  first  painful  steps  on  the 
road  toward  American  citizenship. 

Again,  let  me  call  to  mind  an  institution, 
not  in  New  York,  but  in  Albany,  where  the 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


99 


sisters  of  a religious  organization  devote 
their  entire  lives  to  helping  girls  who  either 
have  slipped,  and  would  go  down  to  be 
trampled  underfoot  in  the  blackest  mire  if 
they  were  not  helped,  or  who,  by  force  of 
their  surroundings,  would  surely  slip  if  the 
hand  were  not  held  out  to  them  in  time.  It 
is  the  kind  of  work  the  doing  of  which  is  of 
infinite  importance  both  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  state  and  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
individual ; yet  it  is  a work  which,  to  be 
successful,  must  emphatically  be  a labor  of 
love.  Most  men  and  women,  even  among 
those  who  appreciate  the  need  of  the  work 
and  who  are  not  wholly  insensible  to  the 
demands  made  upon  them  by  the  spirit  of 
brotherly  love  for  mankind,  lack  either  the 
time,  the  opportunity,  or  the  moral  and  men- 
tal qualities  to  succeed  in  such  work;  and 
to  very  many  the  sheer  distaste  of  it  would 
prevent  their  doing  it  well.  There  is  nothing 
attractive  in  it  save  for  those  who  are  entirely 
earnest  and  disinterested.  There  is  no  rep- 
utation, there  is  not  even  any  notoriety,  to 
be  gained  from  it.  Surely  people  who  realize 
that  such  work  ought  to  be  done,  and  who 
realize  also  how  exceedingly  distasteful  it 
would  be  for  them  to  do  it,  ought  to  feel  a 
sense  of  the  most  profound  gratitude  to  those 
who  with  whole-hearted  sincerity  have 
undertaken  it,  and  should  support  them  in 


100 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


every  way.  This  particular  institution  is 
under  the  management  of  a creed  not  my 
own,  but  few  things  gave  me  greater  plea- 
sure than  to  sign  a bill  increasing  its  power 
and  usefulness.  Compared  with  the  vital 
necessity  of  reclaiming  these  poor  hunted 
creatures  to  paths  of  womanliness  and 
wholesome  living,  it  is  of  infinitesimal  im- 
portance along  the  lines  of  which  creed  these 
paths  lead. 

Undoubtedly  the  best  type  of  philan- 
thropic work  is  that  which  helps  men  and 
women  who  are  willing  and  able  to  help 
themselves;  for  fundamentally  this  aid  is 
simply  what  each  of  us  should  be  all  the  time 
both  giving  and  receiving.  Every  man  and 
woman  in  the  land  ought  to  prize  above  al- 
most every  other  quality  the  capacity  for 
self-help ; and  yet  every  man  and  woman  in 
the  land  will  at  some  time  or  other  be  sorely 
in  need  of  the  help  of  others,  and  at  some 
time  or  other  will  find  that  he  or  she  can 
in  turn  give  help  even  to  the  strongest.  The 
quality  of  self-help  is  so  splendid  a quality 
that  nothing  can  compensate  for  its  loss ; yet, 
like  every  virtue,  it  can  be  twisted  into  a 
fault,  and  it  becomes  a fault  if  carried  to  the 
point  of  cold-hearted  arrogance,  of  inability 
to  understand  that  now  and  then  the  strong- 
est may  be  in  need  of  aid,  and  that  for  this 
reason  alone,  if  for  no  other,  the  strong 


CmC  HELPFULNESS 


101 


should  always  be  glad  of  the  chance  in  turn 
to  aid  the  weak. 

The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations 
and  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Associa- 
tions, which  have  now  spread  over  all  the 
country,  are  invaluable  because  they  can 
reach  every  one.  I am  certainly  a benefici- 
ary myself,  having  not  infrequently  used 
them  as  clubs  or  reading-rooms  when  I was 
in  some  city  in  which  I had  but  little  or  no 
personal  acquaintance.  In  part  they  develop 
the  good  qualities  of  those  who  join  them; 
in  part  they  do  what  is  even  more  valuable, 
that  is,  simply  give  opportunity  for  the  men 
or  women  to  develop  the  qualities  themselves. 
In  most  cases  they  provide  reading-rooms 
and  gymnasiums,  and  therefore  furnish  a 
means  for  a man  or  woman  to  pass  his  or 
her  leisure  hours  in  profit  or  amusement 
as  seems  best.  The  average  individual  will 
not  spend  the  hours  in  which  he  is  not 
working  in  doing  something  that  is  unpleas- 
ant, and  absolutely  the  only  way  perma- 
nently to  draw  average  men  or  women  from 
occupations  and  amusements  that  are  un- 
healthy for  soul  or  body  is  to  furnish  an 
alternative  which  they  will  accept.  To  for- 
bid all  amusements,  or  to  treat  innocent  and 
vicious  amusements  as  on  the  same  plane, 
simply  insures  recruits  for  the  vicious  amuse- 
ments. The  Young  Men’s  and  Young 


102 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


Women’s  Christian  Associations  would  have 
demonstrated  their  value  a hundredfold  over 
if  they  had  done  nothing  more  than  furnish 
reading-rooms,  gymnasiums,  and  places 
where,  especially  after  nightfall,  those  with- 
out homes,  or  without  attractive  homes, 
could  go  without  receiving  injury.  They 
furnish  meeting-grounds  for  many  young 
men  who  otherwise  would  he  driven,  perhaps 
to  the  saloon,  or  if  not,  then  to  some  cigar- 
store  or  other  lounging-place,  where  at  the 
best  the  conversation  would  not  be  elevating, 
and  at  the  worst  companionships  might  be 
formed  which  would  lead  to  future  disaster. 
In  addition  to  this  the  associations  give  every 
opportunity  for  self-improvement  to  those 
who  care  to  take  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunity, and  an  astonishing  number  do  take 
advantage  of  it. 

Mention  was  made  above  of  some  of  the 
sources  from  which  at  times  we  drew  po- 
licemen while  engaged  in  managing  the  New 
York  Police  Department.  Several  came 
from  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations. 
One  of  them  whom  we  got  from  the  Bowery 
Branch  of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Asso- 
ciation I remember  particularly.  I had  gone 
around  there  one  night,  and  the  secretary 
mentioned  to  me  that  they  had  a young  man 
who  had  just  rescued  a woman  from  a burn- 
ing building,  showing  great  strength,  cool- 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


103 


ness,  and  courage.  The  story  interested  me, 
and  I asked  him  to  send  for  the  young  fel- 
low. When  he  turned  up  he  proved  to  be  a 

Jew,  Otto  E , who,  when  very  young, 

had  come  over  with  his  people  from  Eussia 
at  the  time  of  one  of  the  waves  of  persecu- 
tion in  that  country.  He  was  evidently 
physically  of  the  right  type,  and  as  he  had 
been  studying  in  the  association  classes  for 
some  time  he  was  also  mentally  fit,  while  his 
feat  at  the  fire  showed  he  had  good  moral 
qualities.  We  were  going  to  hold  the  exami- 
nations in  a few  days,  and  I told  him  to  try 
them.  Sure  enough,  he  passed  and  was  ap- 
pointed. He  made  one  of  the  best  policemen 
we  put  on.  As  a result  of  his  appointment, 
which  meant  tripling  the  salary  he  had  been 
earning,  and  making  an  immense  bound  in 
social  standing,  he  was  able  to  keep  his 
mother  and  old  grandmother  in  comfort,  and 
see  to  the  starting  of  his  small  brothers  and 
sisters  in  life ; for  he  was  already  a good  son 
and  brother,  so  that  it  was  not  surprising 
that  he  made  a good  policeman. 

I have  not  dwelt  on  the  work  of  the  State 
charitable  institutions,  or  of  those  who  are 
paid  to  do  charitable  work  as  officers  and 
otherwise.  But  it  is  bare  justice  to  point 
out  that  the  great  majority  of  those  thus  paid 
have  gone  into  the  work,  not  for  the  sake  of 
the  money,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  work  it- 


104 


CmC  HELPFULNESS 


self,  though,  being  dependent  npon  their 
own  exertions  for  a livelihood,  they  are 
obliged  to  receive  some  recompense  for  their 
services. 

There  is  one  class  of  public  servants,  how- 
ever, not  employed  directly  as  philanthropic 
agents,  whose  work,  nevertheless,  is  as  truly 
philanthropic  in  character  as  that  of  any 
man  or  woman  existing.  I allude  to  the 
public- school  teachers  whose  schools  lie  in 
the  poorer  quarters  of  the  city.  In  dealing 
with  any  body  of  men  and  women  general 
statements  must  be  made  cautiously,  and  it 
must  always  be  understood  that  there  are 
numerous  exceptions.  Speaking  generally, 
however,  the  women  teachers — I mention 
these  because  they  are  more  numerous  than 
the  men — who  carry  on  their  work  in  the 
poorer  districts  of  the  great  cities  form  as 
high-principled  and  useful  a body  of  citizens 
as  is  to  be  found  in  the  entire  community, 
and  render  an  amount  of  service  which  can 
hardly  be  paralleled  by  that  of  any  other 
equal  number  of  men  or  women.  Most 
women  who  lead  lives  actively  devoted  to 
intelligent  work  for  others  grow  to  have  a 
certain  look  of  serene  and  high  purpose 
which  stamps  them  at  once.  This  look  is 
generally  seen,  for  instance,  among  the 
higher  types  of  women  doctors,  trained 
nurses,  and  of  those  who  devote  their  lives 


CmC  HELPFULNESS 


105 


to  work  among  the  poor ; and  it  is  precisely 
this  look  which  one  so  often  sees  on  the  faces 
of  those  public- school  teachers  who  have 
grown  to  regard  the  welfare  of  their  pupils 
as  the  vital  interest  of  their  own  lives.  It  is 
not  merely  the  regular  day-work  the  school- 
teachers do,  but  the  amount  of  attention 
they  pay  outside  their  regular  classes ; the 
influence  they  have  in  shajiing  the  lives  of 
the  boys,  and  perhaps  even  more  of  the  girls, 
brought  in  contact  with  them ; the  care  they 
take  of  the  younger,  and  the  way  they  un- 
consciously hold  up  ideals  to  the  elder  boys 
and  girls,  to  whom  they  often  represent  the 
most  tangible  embodiment  of  what  is  best  in 
American  life.  They  are  a great  force  for  pro- 
ducing good  citizenship.  Above  all  things, 
they  represent  the  most  potent  power  in 
Americanizing  as  weU  as  in  humanizing  the 
children  of  the  newcomers  of  every  grade 
who  arrive  here  from  Europe.  Where  the 
immigrant  parents  are  able  to  make  their 
way  in  the  world,  their  children  have  no 
more  difficulty  than  the  children  of  the  na- 
tive-born in  becoming  part  of  American  life, 
in  sharing  all  its  privileges  and  in  doing  all 
its  duties.  But  the  children  of  the  very  poor 
of  foreign  birth  would  be  handicapped  almost 
as  much  as  their  parents,  were  it  not  for  the 
public  schools  and  the  start  thus  given  them. 
Loyalty  to  the  flag  is  taught  by  precept  and 


106 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


practice  in  all  these  public  schools,  and  loy- 
alty to  the  principles  of  good  citizenship  is 
, also  taught  in  no  merely  perfunctory  manner. 

Here  I hardly  touch  upon  the  “ little  red 
school-house”  out  in  the  country  districts, 
simply  because  in  the  country  districts  all 
of  our  children  go  to  the  same  schools,  and 
thereby  get  an  inestimable  knowledge  of  the 
solidarity  of  our  American  life.  I have 
touched  on  this  in  a former  article,  and  I can 
here  only  say  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
overestimate  the  good  done  by  the  association 
this  engenders,  and  the  excellent  educational 
work  of  the  teachers.  We  always  feel  that 
we  have  given  our  children  no  small  advan- 
tage by  the  mere  fact  of  allowing  them  to  go 
to  these  little  district  schools,  where  they  all 
have  the  same  treatment  and  are  all  tried  by 
the  same  standard.  But  with  us  in  the 
country  the  district  school  is  only  philan- 
thropic in  that  excellent  sense  in  which  all 
joint  effort  for  the  common  good  is  philan- 
thropic. 

A very  wholesome  effect  has  been  produced 
in  great  cities  by  the  university  settlements, 
college  settlements,  and  similar  efforts  to  do 
practical  good  by  bringing  closer  together 
the  more  and  the  less  fortunate  in  life.  It  is 
no  easy  task  to  make  movements  of  this  kind 
succeed.  If  managed  in  a spirit  of  patroniz- 
ing condescension,  or  with  ignorance  of  the 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


107 


desires,  needs,  and  passions  of  those  round 
about,  little  good  indeed  'will  come  from 
them.  The  fact  that,  instead  of  little,  much 
good  does  in  reality  result,  is  due  to  the  en- 
tirely practical  methods  and  the  spirit  of 
comradeship  shown  by  those  foremost  in 
these  organizations.  One  particularly  good 
feature  has  been  their  tendency  to  get  into 
politics.  Of  course  this  has  its  drawbacks, 
but  they  are  outweighed  by  the  advantages. 
Clean  politics  is  simply  one  form  of  applied  • 
good  citizenship.  No  man  can  be  a really 
good  citizen  unless  he  takes  a lively  inter- 
est in  polities  from  a high  standpoint. 
Moreover,  the  minute  that  a move  is  made 
in  politics,  the  people  who  are  helped  and 
those  who  would  help  them  grow  to  have  a 
common  interest  which  is  genuine  and  ab- 
sorbing instead  of  being  in  any  degree  arti- 
ficial, and  this  will  bring  them  together  as 
nothing  else  would.  Part  of  the  good  that 
results  from  such  community  of  feeling  is 
precisely  like  the  good  that  results  from  the 
community  of  feeling  about  a club,  foot-ball 
team,  or  base-ball  nine.  This  in  itself  has  a 
good  side ; but  there  is  an  even  better  side, 
due  to  the  fact  that  disinterested  motives 
are  appealed  to,  and  that  men  are  made  to 
feel  that  they  are  working  for  others,  for 
the  community  as  a whole  as  well  as  for 
themselves. 


108 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


There  remain  the  host  of  philanthropic 
workers  who  cannot  be  classed  in  any  of  the 
above-mentioned  classes.  They  do  most 
good  when  they  are  in  touch  with  some  or- 
ganization, although,  in  addition,  the  strong- 
est will  keep  some  of  their  leisure  time  for 
work  on  individual  lines  to  meet  the  cases 
where  no  organized  relief  will  accomplish 
anything.  Philanthropy  has  undoubtedly 
been  a good  deal  discredited  both  by  the  ex- 
ceedingly noxious  individuals  who  go  into  it 
with  ostentation  to  make  a reputation,  and 
by  the  only  less  noxious  persons  who  are 
foolish  and  indiscriminate  givers.  Anything 
that  encourages  pauperism,  anything  that 
relaxes  the  manly  fiber  and  lowers  self-re- 
spect, is  an  unmixed  evil.  The  soup-kitchen 
style  of  philanthropy  is  as  thoroughly  de- 
moralizing as  most  forms  of  vice  or  oppres- 
sion, and  it  is  of  course  particularly  revolting 
when  some  corporation  or  private  individual 
undertakes  it,  not  even  in  a spirit  of  foolish 
charity,  but  for  purposes  of  self-advertise- 
ment. In  a time  of  sudden  and  wide-spread 
disaster,  caused  by  a flood,  a blizzard,  an 
earthquake,  or  an  epidemic,  there  may  be 
ample  reason  for  the  extension  of  charity  on 
the  largest  scale  to  every  one  who  needs  it. 
But  these  conditions  are  wholly  excep- 
tional, and  the  methods  of  relief  employed  to 
meet  them  must  also  be  treated  as  wholly 


CIVIC  HELPFULNESS 


109 


exceptional.  In  charity  the  one  thing  always 
to  be  remembered  is  that,  while  any  man  may 
slip  and  should  at  once  be  helped  to  rise  to 
his  feet,  yet  no  man  can  be  carried  with  ad- 
vantage either  to  him  or  to  the  community. 
The  greatest  possible  good  can  be  done  by 
the  extension  of  a helping  hand  at  the  right 
moment,  but  the  attempt  to  carry  any  one 
permanently  can  end  in  nothing  but  harm. 
The  really  hard-working  philanthropists, 
who  spend  their  lives  in  doing  good  to  their 
neighbors,  do  not,  as  a rule,  belong  to  the 
“mushy”  class,  and  thoronghly  realize  the 
unwisdom  of  foolish  and  indiscriminate  giv- 
ing, or  of  wild  and  crude  plans  of  social  refor- 
mations. The  young  enthusiast  who  is  for  the 
first  time  brought  into  contact  with  the  terri- 
ble suffering  and  stunting  degradation  which 
are  so  evident  in  many  parts  of  our  great 
cities  is  apt  to  become  so  appalled  as  to 
lose  his  head.  If  there  is  a twist  in  his  moral 
or  mental  make-up,  he  will  never  regain 
his  poise ; but  if  he  is  sound  and  healthy  he 
will  soon  realize  that  things  being  bad  af- 
fords no  justification  for  making  them  infi- 
nitely worse,  and  that  the  only  safe  rule  is  for 
each  man  to  strive  to  do  his  duty  in  a spirit 
of  sanity  and  wholesome  common  sense. 
No  one  of  us  can  make  the  world  move  on 
very  far,  but  it  moves  at  all  only  when  each 
one  of  a very  large  number  does  his  duty. 


CHAEACTER  AND  SUCCESS 

Published  in  the  “Outlook,”  Makoh  31,  1900 


i 

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4 


CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS 


9 


TEAR  or  two  ago  I was  speaking  to  a 


famous  Yale  professor,  one  of  the  most 
noted  scholars  in  the  country,  and  one  who 
is  even  more  than  a scholar,  because  he  is  in 
every  sense  of  the  word  a man.  We  had 
been  discussing  the  Tale-Harvard  foot-ball 
teams,  and  he  remarked  of  a certain  player : 
“ I told  them  not  to  take  him,  for  he  was 
slack  in  his  studies,  and  my  experience  is 
that,  as  a rule,  the  man  who  is  slack  in  his 
studies  will  be  slack  in  his  foot-ball  work ; it 
is  character  that  counts  in  both.” 

Bodily  vigor  is  good,  and  vigor  of  intellect 
is  even  better,  but  far  above  both  is  character. 
It  is  true,  of  course,  that  a genius  may,  on 
certain  lines,  do  more  than  a brave  and 
manly  fellow  who  is  not  a genius ; and  so,  in 
sports,  vast  physical  strength  may  overcome 
weakness,  even  though  the  puny  body  may 
have  in  it  the  heart  of  a lion.  But,  in  the 
long  run,  in  the  great  battle  of  life,  no  bril- 
liancy of  intellect,  no  perfection  of  bodily 
development,  will  count  when  weighed  in  the 


8 


113 


114 


CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS 


balance  against  that  assemblage  of  virtues, 
active  and  passive,  of  moral  qualities,  wbicb 
we  group  together  under  the  name  of  char- 
acter; and  if  between  any  two  contestants, 
even  in  college  sport  or  in  college  work,  the 
difference  in  character  on  the  right  side  is  as 
great  as  the  difference  of  intellect  or  strength 
the  other  way,  it  is  the  character  side  that 
will  win. 

Of  course  this  does  not  mean  that  either 
intellect  or  bodily  vigor  can  safely  be  neg- 
lected. On  the  contrary,  it  means  that  both 
should  be  developed,  and  that  not  the  least  of 
the  benefits  of  developing  both  comes  from 
the  indirect  effect  which  this  development 
itself  has  upon  the  character.  In  very  rude 
and  ignorant  communities  all  schooling  is 
more  or  less  looked  down  upon;  but  there 
are  now  very  few  places  indeed  in  the  United 
States  where  elementary  schooling  is  not 
considered  a necessity.  There  are  any 
number  of  men,  however,  priding  themselves 
upon  being  “ hard-headed  ” and  “ practical,” 
who  sneer  at  book-learning  and  at  every 
form  of  higher  education,  under  the  impres- 
sion that  the  additional  mental  culture  is  at 
best  useless,  and  is  ordinarily  harmful  in 
practical  life.  Not  long  ago  two  of  the 
wealthiest  men  in  the  United  States  publicly 
committed  themselves  to  the  proposition 
that  to  go  to  college  was  a positive  disadvan- 


CHAEACTER  AND  SUCCESS 


115 


tage  for  a young  man  who  strove  for  suc- 
cess. Now,  of  course,  the  very  most 
successful  men  we  have  ever  had,  men  like 
Lincoln,  had  no  chance  to  go  to  college,  but 
did  have  such  indomitable  tenacity  and  such 
keen  appreciation  of  the  value  of  wisdom 
that  they  set  to  work  and  learned  for  them- 
selves far  more  than  they  could  have  been 
taught  in  any  academy.  On  the  other  hand, 
boys  of  weak  fiber,  who  go  to  high  school 
or  college  instead  of  going  to  work  after 
getting  through  the  primary  schools,  may 
be  seriously  damaged  instead  of  benefited. 
But,  as  a rule,  if  the  boy  has  in  him  the  right 
stuff,  it  is  a great  advantage  to  him  should 
his  circumstances  be  so  fortunate  as  to  en- 
able him  to  get  the  years  of  additional  men- 
tal training.  The  trouble  with  the  two  rich 
men  whose  views  are  above  quoted  was  that, 
owing  largely  perhaps  to  their  own  defects 
in  early  training,  they  did  not  know  what 
success  really  was.  Their  speeches  merely 
betrayed  their  own  limitations,  and  did  not 
furnish  any  argument  against  education. 
Success  must  always  include,  as  its  first  ele- 
ment, earning  a competence  for  the  support 
of  the  man  himself,  and  for  the  bringing  up 
of  those  dependent  upon  him.  In  the  vast 
majority  of  cases  it  ought  to  include  finan- 
cially rather  more  than  this.  But  the  acqui- 
sition of  wealth  is  not  in  the  least  the  only 


116 


CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS 


test  of  success.  After  a certain  amount  of 
wealth  has  been  accumulated,  the  accumu- 
lation of  more  is  of  very  little  consequence 
indeed  from  the  standpoint  of  success,  as 
success  should  be  understood  both  by  the 
community  and  the  individual.  Wealthy 
men  who  use  their  wealth  aright  are  a great 
power  for  good  in  the  community,  and  help 
to  upbuild  that  material  national  prosperity 
which  must  underlie  national  greatness ; but 
if  this  were  the  only  kind  of  success,  the 
nation  would  be  indeed  poorly  off.  Suc- 
cessful statesmen,  soldiers,  sailors,  explorers, 
historians,  poets,  and  scientific  men  are  also 
essential  to  national  greatness,  and,  in  fact, 
very  much  more  essential  than  any  mere  suc- 
cessful business  man  can  possibly  be.  The 
average  man,  into  whom  the  average  boy 
develops,  is,  of  course,  not  going  to  be  a 
marvel  in  any  line,  but,  if  he  only  chooses 
to  try,  he  can  be  very  good  in  any  line,  and 
the  chances  of  his  doing  good  work  are  im- 
mensely increased  if  he  has  trained  his  mind. 
Of  course,  if,  as  a result  of  his  high-school, 
academy,  or  college  experience,  he  gets  to 
thinking  that  the  only  kind  of  learning  is 
that  to  be  found  in  books,  he  will  do  very 
little;  but  if  he  keeps  his  mental  balance, 
—that  is,  if  he  shows  character,— he  will 
understand  both  what  learning  can  do  and 
what  it  cannot,  and  he  will  be  all  the  better 
the  more  he  can  get. 


CHAEACTER  AND  SUCCESS 


117 


A good  deal  the  same  thing  is  true  of 
bodily  development.  Exactly  as  one  kind 
of  man  sneers  at  college  work  because  he  does 
not  think  it  bears  any  immediate  fruit  in 
money-getting,  so  another  type  of  man 
sneers  at  college  sports  because  he  does  not 
see  their  immediate  effect  for  good  in  practi- 
cal life.  Of  course,  if  they  are  carried  to  an 
excessive  degree,  they  are  altogether  bad. 
It  is  a good  thing  for  a boy  to  have  cap- 
tained his  school  or  college  eleven,  but  it  is 
a very  bad  thing  if,  twenty  years  afterward, 
all  that  can  be  said  of  him  is  that  he  has 
continued  to  take  an  interest  in  foot-ball, 
base-ball,  or  boxing,  and  has  with  him  the 
memory  that  he  was  once  captain.  A very 
acute  observer  has  pointed  out  that,  not  im- 
possibly, excessive  devotion  to  sports  and 
games  has  proved  a serious  detriment  in  the 
British  army,  by  leading  the  officers  and 
even  the  men  to  neglect  the  hard,  practical 
work  of  their  profession  for  the  sake  of  ra- 
cing, foot-ball,  base-ball,  polo,  and  tennis — 
until  they  received  a very  rude  awakening 
at  the  hands  of  the  Boers.  Of  course  this 
means  merely  that  any  healthy  pursuit  can 
be  abused.  The  student  in  a college  who 
“ crams  ” in  order  to  stand  at  the  head  of 
his  class,  and  neglects  his  health  and  stunts 
his  development  by  working  for  high  marks, 
may  do  himself  much  damage ; but  all  that 
he  proves  is  that  the  abuse  of  study  is  wrong. 


118 


CHAEACTER  AND  SUCCESS 


The  fact  remains  that  the  study  itself  is  es- 
sential. So  it  is  with  vigorous  pastimes.  If 
rowing  or  foot-ball  or  base-baU  is  treated  as 
the  end  of  life  by  any  considerable  section  of 
a community,  then  that  community  shows 
itself  to  be  in  an  unhealthy  condition.  If 
treated  as  it  should  be, — that  is,  as  good, 
healthy  play, — it  is  of  great  benefit,  not  only 
to  the  body,  but  in  its  effect  upon  character. 
To  study  hard  implies  character  in  the  stu- 

dent,  and  to  work  hard  at  a sport  which  em 

tails  severe  physicaF  exertion  and  steady 
training  also  implies  character. 

All  kinds  of  qualities  go  to  make  up  char- 
acter, for,  emphatically,  the  term  should  in- 
clude the  positive  no  less  than  the  negative 
virtues.  If  we  say  of  a boy  or  a man,  “ He 
is  of  good  character,”  we  mean  that  he  does 
not  do  a great  many  things  that  are  wrong, 
and  we  also  mean  that  he  does  do  a great 
many  things  which  imply  much  effort  of  will 
and  readiness  to  face  what  is  disagreeable. 
He  must  not  steal,  he  must  not  be  intem- 
perate, he  must  not  be  vicious  in  any  way ; 
he  must  not  be  mean  or  brutal ; he  must  not 
bully  the  weak.  In  fact,  he  must  refrain 
from  whatever  is  evil.  But  besides  refrain- 
ing from  evil,  he  must  do  good.  He  must 
be  brave  and  energetic;  he  must  be  reso- 
lute and  persevering.  The  Bible  always 
inculcates  the  need  of  the  positive  no  less 


CHAEACTEE  AND  SUCCESS 


119 


than  the  negative  virtues,  although  certain 
people  who  profess  to  teach  Christianity  are 
apt  to  dwell  wholly  on  the  negative.  We 
are  bidden  not  merely  to  be  harmless  as 
doves,  but  also  as  wise  as  serpents.  It  is 
very  much  easier  to  carry  out  the  former 
part  of  the  order  than  the  latter ; while,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  of  much  more  impor- 
tance for  the  good  of  mankind  that  our  good- 
ness should  be  accompanied  by  wisdom  than 
that  we  should  merely  be  harmless.  If  with 
the  serpent  wisdom  we  unite  the  serpent 
guile,  terrible  will  be  the  damage  we  do ; and 
if,  with  the  best  of  intentions,  we  can  only 
manage  to  deserve  the  epithet  of  “ harmless,” 
it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  have  lived  in  the 
world  at  all. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  more  important  com- 
ponent of  character  than  steadfast  resolution. 
The  boy  who  is  going  to  make  a great  man, 
or  is  going  to  count  in  any  way  in  after  life, 
must  make  up  his  mind  not  merely  to  over- 
come a thousand  obstacles,  but  to  win  in 
spite  of  a thousand  repulses  or  defeats.  He 
may  be  able  to  wrest  success  along  the  lines 
on  which  he  originally  started.  He  may 
have  to  try  something  entirely  new.  On  the 
one  hand,  he  must  not  be  volatile  and  irres- 
olute, and,  on  the  other  hand,  he  must  not 
fear  to  try  a new  line  because  he  has  failed  in 
another.  Grant  did  weU  as  a boy  and  weU 


120 


CHARACTER  AND  SUCCESS 


as  a young  man;  then  came  a period  of 
trouble  and  failure,  and  then  the  Civil  War 
and  his  opportunity ; and  he  grasped  it,  and 
rose  until  his  name  is  among  the  greatest  in 
our  history.  Young  Lincoln,  struggling 
against  incalculable  odds,  worked  his  way 
up,  trying  one  thing  and  another  until  he, 
too,  struck  out  boldly  into  the  turbulent 
torrent  of  our  national  life,  at  a time  when 
only  the  boldest  and  wisest  could  so  carry 
themselves  as  to  win  success  and  honor ; and 
from  the  struggle  he  won  both  death  and 
honor,  and  stands  forevermore  among  the 
greatest  of  mankind. 

Character  is  shown  in  peace  no  less  than 
in  war.  As  the  greatest  fertility  of  inven- 
tion, the  greatest  perfection  of  armament, 
will  not  make  soldiers  out  of  cowards,  so  no 
mental  training  and  no  bodily  vigor  will 
make  a nation  great  if  it  lacks  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  honesty  and  moral  clean- 
liness. After  the  death  of  Alexander  the 
Great  nearly  all  of  the  then  civilized  world 
was  divided  among  the  Greek  monarchies 
ruled  by  his  companions  and  their  successors. 
This  Greek  world  was  very  brilliant  and  very 
wealthy.  It  contained  haughty  military  em- 
pires, and  huge  trading  cities,  under  republi- 
can government,  which  attained  the  highest 
pitch  of  commercial  and  industrial  prosper- 
ity. Art  flourished  to  an  extraordinary 


CHAEACTEE  AND  SUCCESS 


121 


degree;  science  advanced  as  never  before. 
There  were  academies  for  men  of  letters; 
there  were  many  orators,  many  philosophers. 
Merchants  and  business  men  throve  apace, 
and  for  a long  period  the  Greek  soldiers  kept 
the  superiority  and  renown  they  had  won 
under  the  mighty  conqueror  of  the  East. 
But  the  heart  of  the  people  was  incurably 
false,  incurably  treacherous  and  debased. 
Almost  every  statesman  had  his  price,  almost 
every  soldier  was  a mercenary  who,  for  a 
sufficient  inducement,  would  betray  any 
cause.  Moral  corruption  ate  into  the  whole 
social  and  domestic  fabric,  until,  a little  more 
than  a century  after  the  death  of  Alexander, 
the  empire  which  he  had  left  had  become  a 
mere  glittering  shell,  which  went  down  like 
a house  of  cards  on  impact  with  the  Eo- 
mans ; for  the  Eomans,  with  all  their  faults, 
were  then  a thoroughly  manly  race — a race 
of  strong,  virile  character. 

Alike  for  the  nation  and  the  individual, 
the  one  indispensable  requisite  is  character 
— character  that  does  and  dares  as  well  as 
endures,  character  that  is  active  in  the  per- 
formance of  virtue  no  less  than  firm  in  the 
refusal  to  do  aught  that  is  vicious  or  de- 
graded. 


THE  EIGHTH  AND  NINTH  COMMAND- 
MENTS IN  POLITICS 

Published  in  the  “Outlook,”  May  12,  1900 


< THE  EIGHTH  AND  NINTH  COMMAND- 
MENTS IN  POLITICS 


9 

The  two  commandments  which  are  spe- 
cially applicable  in  public  life  are  the 
eighth  and  the  ninth.  Not  only  every  poli- 
tician, high  or  low,  but  every  citizen  inter- 
ested in  politics,  and  especially  every  man 
who,  in  a newspaper  or  on  the  stump,  advo- 
cates or  condemns  any  public  policy  or  any 
public  man,  should  remember  always  that 
the  two  cardinal  points  in  his  doctrine  ought 
to  be,  “ Thou  shalt  not  steal,”  and  “ Thou 
shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy 
neighbor.”  He  should  also,  of  course,  re- 
member that  the  multitude  of  men  who 
break  the  moral  law  expressed  in  these  two 
commandments  are  not  to  be  justified  be- 
cause they  keep  out  of  the  clutches  of  the 
human  law.  Robbery  and  theft,  perjury 
and  subornation  of  perjury,  are  crimes  pun- 
ishable by  the  courts;  but  many  a man 
who  technically  never  commits  any  one  of 
these  crimes  is  yet  morally  quite  as  guilty 
as  is  his  less  adroit  but  not  more  wicked, 

125 


126 


THE  EIGHTH  AND  NINTH 


and  possibly  infinitely  less  dangerous, 
brother  who  gets  into  the  penitentiary. 

As  regards  the  eighth  commandment, 
while  the  remark  of  one  of  the  founders  of 
our  government,  that  the  whole  art  of  poli- 
tics consists  in  being  honest,  is  an  overstate- 
ment, it  remains  true  that  absolute  honesty 
is  what  Cromwell  would  have  called  a 
“fundamental”  of  healthy  political  life. 
"We  can  afford  to  differ  on  the  currency, 
the  tariff,  and  foreign  policy;  but  we  can- 
not afford  to  differ  on  the  question  of  hon- 
esty if  we  expect  our  republic  permanently 
to  endure.  No  community  is  healthy  where 
it  is  ever  necessary  to  distinguish  one  poli- 
tician among  his  fellows  because  “he  is 
honest.”  Honesty  is  not  so  much  a credit 
as  an  absolute  prerequisite  to  efficient  service 
to  the  public.  Unless  a man  is  honest  we 
have  no  right  to  keep  him  in  public  life,  it 
matters  not  how  brilliant  his  capacity,  it 
hardly  matters  how  great  his  power  of  doing 
good  service  on  certain  lines  may  be.  Prob- 
ably very  few  men  will  disagree  with  this 
statement  in  the  abstract,  yet  in  the  con- 
crete there  is  much  wavering  about  it.  The 
number  of  public  servants  who  actually  take 
bribes  is  not  very  numerous  outside  of  cer- 
tain well-known  centers  of  festering  corrup- 
tion. But  the  temptation  to  be  dishonest 
often  comes  in  insidious  ways.  There  are 


COMMANDMENTS  IN  POLITICS 


127 


not  a few  public  men  who,  though  they 
would  repel  with  indignation  an  offer  of  a 
bribe,  will  give  certain  corporations  special 
legislative  and  executive  privileges  because 
they  have  contributed  heavily  to  campaign 
funds;  will  permit  loose  and  extravagant 
work  because  a contractor  has  political  in- 
fluence ; or,  at  any  rate,  will  permit  a public 
servant  to  take  public  money  without  ren- 
dering an  adequate  return,  by  conniving  at 
inefficient  service  on  the  part  of  men  who  are 
protected  by  prominent  party  leaders.  Va- 
rious degrees  of  moral  guilt  are  involved  in 
the  multitudinous  actions  of  this  kind ; but, 
after  all,  directly  or  indirectly,  every  such 
case  comes  dangerously  near  the  border-line 
of  the  commandment  which,  in  forbidding 
theft,  certainly  by  implication  forbids  the 
connivance  at  theft,  or  the  failure  to  punish 
it.  One  of  the  favorite  schemes  of  reformers 
is  to  devise  some  method  by  which  big  cor- 
porations can  be  prevented  from  making 
heavy  subscriptions  to  campaign  funds,  and 
thereby  acquiring  improper  influence.  But 
the  best  way  to  prevent  them  from  making 
contributions  for  improper  purposes  is 
simply  to  elect  as  public  servants,  not 
professional  denouncers  of  corporations, — 
for  such  men  are  in  practice  usually  their 
most  servile  tools,— but  men  who  say,  and 
mean,  that  they  will  neither  be  for  nor 


128 


THE  EIGHTH  AND  NINTH 


against  corporations ; that,  on  the  one  hand, 
they  will  not  be  frightened  from  doing 
them  justice  by  popular  clamor,  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  led  by  any  interest  whatso- 
ever into  doing  them  more  than  justice. 
At  the  Anti-Trust  Conference  last  summer 
Mr.  Bryan  commented,  with  a sneer,  on  the 
fact  that  “of  course”  New  York  would  not 
pass  a law  prohibiting  contributions  by  cor- 
porations. He  was  right  in  thinking  that 
New  York,  while  it  retains  rational  civic 
habits,  will  not  pass  ridiculous  legislation 
which  cannot  be  made  effective,  and  which 
is  merely  intended  to  deceive  during  the 
campaign  the  voters  least  capable  of 
thought.  But  there  will  not  be  the  slight- 
est need  for  such  legislation  if  only  the 
public  spirit  is  sufficiently  healthy,  suffi- 
ciently removed  alike  from  corruption  and 
from  demagogy,  to  see  that  each  corporation 
receives  its  exact  rights  and  nothing  more ; 
and  this  is  exactly  what  is  now  being  done 
in  New  York  by  men  whom  dishonest  cor- 
porations dread  a hundred  times  more  than 
they  dread  the  demagogic  agitators  who  are 
a terror  merely  to  honest  corporations. 

It  is,  of  course,  not  enough  that  a public 
official  should  be  honest.  No  amount  of 
honesty  will  avail  if  he  is  not  also  brave  and 
wise.  The  weakling  and  the  coward  cannot 
be  saved  by  honesty  alone;  but  without 


COMMANDMENTS  IN  POLITICS 


129 


honesty  the  brave  and  able  man  is  merely  a 
civic  wild  beast  who  should  be  hnnted  down 
by  every  lover  of  righteousness.  No  man 
who  is  corrupt,  no  man  who  condones  cor- 
ruption in  others,  can  possibly  do  his  duty 
by  the  community.  When  this  truth  is  ac- 
cepted as  axiomatic  in  our  politics,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  shall  we  see  such  a moral 
uplifting  of  the  people  as  will  render,  for 
instance,  Tammany  rule  in  New  York,  as 
Tammany  rule  now  is,  no  more  possible 
than  it  would  be  possible  to  revive  the  rob- 
ber baronage  of  the  middle  ages. 

Great  is  the  danger  to  our  country  from 
the  failure  among  our  public  men  to  live  up 
to  the  eighth  commandment,  from  the  cal- 
lousness in  the  public  which  permits  such 
shortcomings.  Yet  it  is  not  exaggeration 
to  say  that  the  danger  is  quite  as  great  from 
those  who  year  in  and  year  out  violate  the 
ninth  commandment  by  bearing  false  wit- 
ness against  the  honest  man,  and  who 
thereby  degrade  him  and  elevate  the  dishon- 
est man  until  they  are  both  on  the  same 
level.  The  public  is  quite  as  much  harmed 
in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other,  by  the  one 
set  of  wrong-doers  as  by  the  other.  “ Liar  ” 
is  just  as  ugly  a word  as  “ thief,”  because  it 
implies  the  presence  of  just  as  ugly  a sin  in 
one  case  as  in  the  other.  If  a man  lies  under 
oath  or  procures  the  lie  of  another  under 

9 


130 


THE  EIGHTH  AND  NINTH 


oath,  if  he  perjures  himself  or  suborns  per- 
jury, he  is  guilty  under  the  statute  law. 
Under  the  higher  law,  under  the  great  law 
of  morality  and  righteousness,  he  is  pre- 
cisely as  guilty  if,  instead  of  lying  in  a 
court,  he  lies  in  a newspaper  or  on  the  stump ; 
and  in  all  probability  the  evil  effects  of  his 
conduct  are  infinitely  more  wide-spread  and 
more  pernicious.  The  difference  between 
perjury  and  mendacity  is  not  in  the  least 
one  of  morals  or  ethics.  It  is  simply  one  of 
legal  forms. 

The  same  man  may  break  both  command- 
ments, or  one  group  of  men  may  be  tempted 
to  break  one  and  another  group  of  men  the 
other.  In  our  civic  life  the  worst  offenders 
against  the  law  of  honesty  owe  no  small  part 
of  their  immunity  to  those  who  sin  against 
the  law  by  bearing  false  witness  against 
their  honest  neighbors.  The  sin  is,  of 
course,  peculiarly  revolting  when  coupled 
with  hypocrisy,  when  it  is  committed  in  the 
name  of  morality.  Few  politicians  do  as 
much  harm  as  the  newspaper  editor,  the 
clergyman,  or  the  lay  reformer  who,  day  in 
and  day  out,  by  virulent  and  untruthful  in- 
vective aimed  at  the  upholders  of  honesty, 
weakens  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  frankly 
vicious.  We  need  fearless  criticism  of  dis- 
honest men,  and  of  honest  men  on  any  point 
where  they  go  wrong ; but  even  more  do  we 


COMMANDMENTS  IN  POLITICS 


131 


need  criticism  which  shall  he  truthful  both 
in  what  it  says  and  in  what  it  leaves  unsaid — 
truthful  in  words  and  truthful  in  the  impres- 
sion it  designs  to  leave  upon  the  readers’  or 
hearers’  minds. 

We  need  absolute  honesty  in  public  life; 
and  we  shall  not  get  it  until  we  remember 
that  truth-telling  must  go  hand  in  hand 
with  it,  and  that  it  is  quite  as  important  not 
to  tell  an  untruth  about  a decent  man  as  it 
is  to  tell  the  truth  about  one  who  is  not 
decent. 


THE  BEST  AND  THE  GOOD 

Published  in  the  “Chubchman,”  March  17,  1900 


THE  BEST  AND  THE  GOOD 


9 


lONG  the  people  to  whom  we  are  all 


under  a very  real  debt  of  obligation 
for  the  help  they  give  to  those  seeking  for 
good  government  at  Albany  is  Bishop 
Doane.  All  of  us  who  at  the  State  capital 
have  been  painfully  striving  to  wrest,  often 
from  adverse  conditions,  the  best  results 
obtainable,  are  strengthened  and  heartened 
in  every  way  by  the  active  interest  the 
bishop  takes  in  every  good  cause,  the  keen 
intelligence  with  which  he  sees  “ the  instant 
need  of  things,”  and  the  sane  and  whole- 
some spirit,  as  remote  from  fanaticism  as 
from  cynicism,  in  which  he  approaches  all 
public  questions. 

Quite  unconsciously  the  bishop  the  other 
day  gave  an  admirable  summing  up  of  his 
own  attitude  in  quoting  an  extract  from  the 
“ Life  ” of  Archbishop  Benson.  In  a letter 
which  the  archbishop  wrote  to  his  chancellor 
in  regard  to  a bill  regulating  patronage  in 
the  Church  of  England,  occurs  the  following 
passage : 


135 


136 


THE  BEST  AND  THE  GOOD 


“ The  bill  does  not,  of  course,  represent  my 
ideal,  but  it  is  a careful  collection  of  points 
which  could  be  claimed,  which  it  would  be 
indecent  to  refuse,  and  which  would  make  a 
considerable  difference  about  our  powers  of 
dealing  rightly  with  cases.  Grain  that  plat- 
form, and  it  would  be  a footing  for  more 
ideal  measures.  I do  not  want  the  best  to 
be  any  more  the  deadly  enemy  of  the  good. 
We  climb  through  degrees  of  comparison.” 

This  is  really  a description  as  excellent  as 
it  is  epigrammatic  of  the  attitude  which 
must  be  maintained  by  every  public  man, 
by  every  leader  and  guide  of  public  thought, 
who  hopes  to  accomplish  work  of  real  worth 
to  the  community.  It  is  a melancholy  fact 
that  many  of  the  worst  laws  put  upon  the 
statute-books  have  been  put  there  with  the 
best  of  intentions  by  thoroughly  well-mean- 
ing people.  Mere  desire  to  do  right  can  no 
more  by  itself  make  a good  statesman  than 
it  can  make  a good  general.  Of  course  it  is 
entirely  unnecessary  to  say  that  nothing 
atones  for  the  lack  of  this  desire  to  do  right. 
Exactly  as  the  brilliant  military  ability  of 
an  Arnold  merely  makes  his  treason  the 
more  abhorrent,  so  our  statesmanship  can- 
not be  put  upon  the  proper  plane  of  purity 
and  ability  until  the  condemnation  visited 
upon  a traitor  like  Arnold  is  visited  with  no 
less  severity  upon  the  statesman  who  be- 


THE  BEST  AND  THE  GOOD 


137 


trays  the  people  by  corruption.  The  one  is 
as  great  an  offense  as  the  other.  Military 
power  is  at  an  end  when  the  honor  of  the 
soldier  can  no  longer  be  trusted ; and,  in  the 
right  sense  of  the  word,  civic  greatness  is  at 
an  end  when  civic  righteousness  is  no  longer 
its  foundation. 

But,  of  course,  every  one  knows  that  a 
soldier  must  be  more  than  merely  honorable 
before  he  is  fit  to  do  credit  to  the  country ; 
and  just  the  same  thing  is  true  of  a states- 
man. He  must  have  high  ideals,  and  the 
leader  of  public  opinion  in  the  pulpit,  in 
the  press,  on  the  platform,  or  on  the  stump 
must  preach  high  ideals.  But  the  possession 
or  preaching  of  these  high  ideals  may  not 
only  be  useless,  but  a source  of  positive 
harm,  if  unaccompanied  by  practical  good 
sense,  if  they  do  not  lead  to  the  effort  to  get 
the  best  possible  when  the  perfect  best  is 
not  attainable — and  in  this  life  the  perfect 
best  rarely  is  attainable.  Every  leader  of  a 
great  reform  has  to  contend,  on  the  one 
hand,  with  the  open,  avowed  enemies  of  the 
reform,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  with  its  ex- 
treme advocates,  who  wish  the  impossible, 
and  who  join  hands  with  their  extreme  oppo- 
nents to  defeat  the  rational  friends  of  the 
reform.  Of  course  the  typical  instance  of 
this  kind  of  conduct  was  afforded  by  Wen- 
dell Phillips  when  in  1864  he  added  his 


138 


THE  BEST  AND  THE  GOOD 


•weight,  slight  though  it  was,  to  the  copper- 
head opposition  to  the  reelection  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

The  alliance  between  Blifil  and  Black 
George  is  world-old.  Blifil  always  acts  in 
the  name  of  morality.  Often,  of  course,  he 
is  not  moral  at  all.  It  is  a great  mistake  to 
think  that  the  extremist  is  a better  man 
than  the  moderate.  Usually  the  difference 
is  not  that  he  is  morally  stronger,  but  that 
he  is  intellectually  weaker.  He  is  not  more 
•virtuous.  He  is  simply  more  foolish.  This 
is  notably  true  in  our  American  life  of  many 
of  those  who  are  most  pessimistic  in  de- 
nouncing the  condition  of  our  politics. 
Certainly  there  is  infinite  room  for  improve- 
ment, infinite  need  of  fearless  and  trenchant 
criticism;  but  the  improvement  can  only 
come  through  intelligent  and  straightfor- 
ward effort.  It  is  set  back  by  those  extre- 
mists who  by  their  action  always  invite 
reaction,  and,  above  all,  by  those  worst  ene- 
mies of  our  public  honesty  who  by  their 
incessant  attacks  upon  good  men  give  the 
utmost  possible  assistance  to  the  bad. 

Offenders  of  this  type  need  but  a short 
shrift.  Though  extremists  after  a fashion, 
they  are  morally  worse  instead  of  better 
than  the  moderates.  There  remains,  how- 
ever, a considerable  group  of  men  who  are 
really  striving  for  the  best,  and  who  mis- 


THE  BEST  AND  THE  GOOD 


139 


takenly,  though  in  good  faith,  permit  the 
best  to  be  the  enemy  of  the  good.  Under 
very  rare  conditions  their  attitude  may  be 
right,  and  because  it  is  thus  right  once  in  a 
hundred  times  they  are  apt  to  be  blind  to 
the  harm  they  do  the  other  ninety-nine 
times.  These  men  need,  above  all,  to  realize 
that  healthy  growth  cannot  normally  come 
through  revolution.  A revolution  is  some- 
times necessary,  but  if  revolutions  become 
habitual  the  country  in  which  they  take 
place  is  going  down-hill.  Hysteria  in  any 
form  is  incompatible  with  sane  and  healthy 
endeavor.  We  must  never  compromise  in  a 
way  that  means  retrogression.  But  in  mov- 
ing forward  we  must  realize  that  normally 
the  condition  of  sure  progress  is  that  it  shall 
not  be  so  fast  as  to  insure  a revolt  and  a 
stoppage  of  the  upward  course.  In  this 
country  especially,  where  what  we  have 
now  to  contend  with  is  not  so  much  any  one 
concrete  evil  as  a general  lowering  of  the 
standards,  we  must  remember  that  to  keep 
these  standards  high  does  not  at  all  imply 
that  they  should  be  put  upon  impossible 
positions — positions  which  must  ultimately 
be  abandoned.  There  can  be  no  compro- 
mise on  the  great  fundamental  principles 
of  morality.  A public  man  who  directly  or 
indirectly  breaks  the  eighth  commandment 
is  just  as  guilty  as  an  editor  or  a speaker 


140 


THE  BEST  AND  THE  GOOD 


■who  breaks  the  ninth,  and  it  matters  little 
whether  the  fault  be  due  to  venality  in  the 
one  case  or  to  morbid  vanity  and  mean  envy 
in  the  other.  If  a man  is  dishonest  he 
should  be  driven  from  public  life.  If  a 
course  of  policy  is  vicious  and  produces  harm 
it  should  be  reversed  at  any  cost.  But 
when  we  come  to  the  countless  measures 
and  efforts  for  doing  good,  let  us  keep  ever 
clearly  in  mind  that  while  we  must  always 
strive  for  the  utmost  good  that  can  be  ob- 
tained, and  must  be  content  with  no  less, 
yet  that  we  do  only  harm  if,  by  intemperate 
championship  of  the  impossible  good,  we 
cut  ourselves  off  from  the  opportunity  to 
work  a real  abatement  of  existing  and  men- 
acing evil. 


PEOMISE  AND  PEEFORMANCE 


Published  in  the  “Outlook,”  July  28,  1900 


lAilJ  . .S.- 


PROMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


9 

IT  is  customary  to  express  wonder  and 
horror  at  the  cynical  baseness  of  the 
doctrines  of  Machiavelli.  Both  the  wonder 
and  the  horror  are  justified,— though  it 
would  perhaps  be  wiser  to  keep  them  for  the 
society  which  the  Italian  described  rather 
than  for  the  describer  himself,— but  it  is 
somewhat  astonishing  that  there  should  be 
so  little  insistence  upon  the  fact  that  Machi- 
avelli rests  his  whole  system  upon  his  con- 
temptuous belief  in  the  folly  and  low  civic 
morality  of  the  multitude,  and  their  demand 
for  fine  promises  and  their  indifference  to  per- 
formance. Thus  he  says : “ It  is  necessary 
to  be  a great  deceiver  and  hypocrite;  for 
men  are  so  simple  and  yield  so  readily  to  the 
wants  of  the  moment  that  he  who  will  trick 
shall  always  find  another  who  will  suffer 
himseff  to  be  tricked.  . . . Therefore  a 
ruler  must  take  great  care  that  no  word  shall 
slip  from  his  mouth  that  shall  not  be  full  of 
piety,  trust,  humanity,  religion,  and  simple 
faith,  and  he  must  appear  to  eye  and  ear  aU 

143 


144 


PEOMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


compact  of  these,  . . . because  the  vulgar 
are  always  caught  by  appearance  and  by  the 
event,  and  in  this  world  there  are  none  but 
the  vulgar.” 

It  therefore  appears  that  Machiavelli’s 
system  is  predicated  partly  on  the  entire 
indifference  to  performance  of  promise  by 
the  prince  and  partly  upon  a greedy  demand 
for  impossible  promises  among  the  people. 
The  infamy  of  the  conduct  championed  by 
Machiavelli  as  proper  for  public  men  is  usu- 
ally what  rivets  the  attention,  but  the  folly 
which  alone  makes  such  infamy  possible  is 
quite  as  well  worthy  of  study.  Hypocrisy 
is  a peculiarly  revolting  vice  alike  in  public 
and  private  life ; and  in  public  life — at  least 
in  high  position — it  can  only  be  practised  on 
a large  scale  for  any  length  of  time  in  those 
places  where  the  people  in  mass  really  war- 
rant Machiavelli’s  description,  and  are  con- 
tent with  a complete  divorce  between  prom- 
ise and  performance. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  say  which  is  the 
surest  way  of  bringing  about  such  a com- 
plete divorce : on  the  one  hand,  the  tolerance 
in  a public  man  of  the  non-performance  of 
promises  which  can  be  kept ; or,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  insistence  by  the  public  upon  prom- 
ises which  they  either  know  or  ought  to  know 
cannot  be  kept.  When  in  a public  speech  or 
in  a party  platform  a policy  is  outlined  which 


PEOMISE  AND  PEKFORMANCE 


145 


it  is  known  cannot  or  will  not  be  pursued, 
the  fact  is  a reflection  not  only  upon  the 
speaker  and  the  platform-maker,  but  upon 
the  public  feeling  to  which  they  appeal. 
When  a section  of  the  people  demand  from 
a candidate  promises  which  he  cannot  believe 
that  he  will  be  able  to  fulfll,  and,  on  his  re- 
fusal, support  some  man  who  cheerfully 
guarantees  an  immediate  millennium,  why, 
under  such  circumstances  the  people  are 
striving  to  bring  about  in  America  some  of 
the  conditions  of  public  life  which  produced 
the  profligacy  and  tyranny  of  medieval 
Italy.  Such  conduct  means  that  the  capa- 
city for  self-government  has  atrophied ; and 
the  hard-headed  common  sense  with  which 
the  American  people,  as  a whole,  refuse  to 
sanction  such  conduct  is  the  best  possible 
proof  and  guarantee  of  their  capacity  to  per- 
form the  high  and  difficult  task  of  adminis- 
tering the  greatest  republic  upon  which  the 
sun  has  ever  shown. 

There  are  always  politicians  willing,  on  the 
one  hand,  to  promise  everything  to  the  peo- 
ple, and,  on  the  other,  to  perform  everything 
for  the  machine  or  the  boss,  with  chuckling 
delight  in  the  success  of  their  efforts  to 
hoodwink  the  former  and  serve  the  latter. 
Now,  not  only  should  such  politicians  be  re- 
garded as  infamous,  but  the  people  who  are 

hoodwinked  by  them  should  share  the  blame. 

10 


146 


PROMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


The  man  who  is  taken  in  by,  or  demands, 
impossible  promises  is  not  much  less  culpa- 
ble than  the  politician  who  deliberately 
makes  such  promises  and  then  breaks  faith. 
Thus  when  any  public  man  says  that  he 
“will  never  compromise  under  any  condi- 
tions,” he  is  certain  to  receive  the  applause 
of  a few  emotional  people  who  do  not  think 
correctly,  and  the  one  fact  about  him  that 
can  be  instantly  asserted  as  true  beyond 
peradventure  is  that,  if  he  is  a serious  per- 
sonage at  all,  he  is  deliberately  lying,  while 
it  is  only  less  certain  that  he  will  be  guilty 
of  base  and  dishonorable  compromise  when 
the  opportunity  arises.  “ Compromise  ” is  so 
often  used  in  a bad  sense  that  it  is  difficult 
to  remember  that  properly  it  merely  de- 
scribes the  process  of  reaching  an  agree- 
ment. Naturally  there  are  certain  subjects 
on  which  no  man  can  compromise.  For  in- 
stance, there  must  be  no  compromise  under 
any  circumstances  with  official  corruption, 
and  of  course  no  man  should  hesitate  to  say 
as  much.  Again,  an  honest  politician  is 
entirely  justified  in  promising  on  the  stump 
that  he  will  make  no  compromise  on  any 
question  of  right  and  wrong.  This  promise 
he  can  and  ought  to  make  good.  But  when 
questions  of  policy  arise — and  most  question s, 
from  the  tariff  to  municipal  ownership  of 
public  utilities  and  the  franchise  tax,  are 


PEOMISE  AND  PERFOEMANCE 


147 


primarily  questions  of  policy— he  will  have 
to  come  to  some  kind  of  working  agreement 
with  his  fellows,  and  if  he  says  that  he  will 
not,  he  either  deliberately  utters  what  he 
knows  to  be  false,  or  else  he  insures  for  him- 
self the  humiliation  of  being  forced  to  break 
his  word.  No  decent  politician  need  com- 
promise in  any  way  save  as  Washington  and 
Lincoln  did.  He  need  not  go  nearly  as  far  as 
Hamilton,  Jefferson,  and  Jackson  went;  but 
some  distance  he  must  go  if  he  expects  to 
accomplish  anything. 

Again,  take  the  case  of  those  who  promise 
an  impossible  good  to  the  community  as  a 
whole  if  a given  course  of  legislation  is 
adopted.  The  man  who  makes  such  a prom- 
ise may  be  a well-meaning  but  unbalanced 
enthusiast,  or  he  may  be  merely  a designing 
demagogue.  In  either  case  the  people  who 
listen  to  and  believe  him  are  not  to  be  ex- 
cused, though  they  may  be  pitied.  Softness 
of  heart  is  an  admirable  quality,  but  when 
it  extends  its  area  until  it  also  becomes  soft- 
ness of  head,  its  results  are  anything  but 
admirable.  It  is  a good  thing  to  combine  a 
warm  heart  with  a cool  head.  People  really 
fit  for  self-government  will  not  be  misled  by 
over-effusiveness  in  promise,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  will  demand  that  every 
proper  promise  shall  be  made  good. 

Wise  legislation  and  upright  administra- 


148 


PROMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


tion  can  undoubtedly  work  very  great  good 
to  a community,  and,  above  all,  can  give  to 
each  individual  the  chance  to  do  the  best 
work  for  himself.  But  ultimately  the  indi- 
vidual’s own  faculties  must  form  the  chief 
factor  in  working  out  his  own  salva- 
tion. In  the  last  analysis  it  is  the  thrift, 
energy,  self-mastery,  and  business  intelli- 
gence of  each  man  which  have  most  to 
do  with  deciding  whether  he  rises  or  falls. 
It  is  easy  enough  to  devise  a scheme  of  gov- 
ernment which  shall  absolutely  nullify  all 
these  qualities  and  insure  failure  to  every- 
body, whether  he  deserves  success  or  not. 
But  the  best  scheme  of  government  can  do 
little  more  than  provide  against  injustice, 
and  then  let  the  individual  rise  or  fall  on  his 
own  merits.  Of  course  something  can  be 
done  by  the  State  acting  in  its  collective 
capacity,  and  in  certain  instances  such  action 
may  be  necessary  to  remedy  real  wrong. 
Gross  misconduct  of  individuals  or  corpora- 
tions may  make  it  necessary  for  the  State  or 
some  of  its  subdivisions  to  assume  the  charge 
of  what  are  called  public  utilities.  But  when 
all  that  can  be  done  in  this  way  has  been 
done,  when  every  individual  has  been  saved 
so  far  as  the  State  can  save  him  from  the 
tyranny  of  any  other  man  or  body  of  men, 
the  individual’s  own  qualities  of  body  and 
mind,  his  own  strength  of  heart  and  hand. 


PROMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


149 


will  remain  the  determining  conditions  in  his 
career.  The  people  who  trust  to  or  exact 
promises  that,  if  a certain  political  leader  is 
followed  or  a certain  public  policy  adopted, 
this  great  truth  will  cease  to  operate,  are  not 
merely  leaning  on  a broken  reed,  but  are 
working  for  their  own  undoing. 

So  much  for  the  men  who  by  their  de- 
mands for  the  impossible  encourage  the 
promise  of  the  impossible,  whether  in  the 
domain  of  economic  legislation  or  of  legisla- 
tion which  has  for  its  object  the  promotion 
of  morality.  The  other  side  is  that  no  man. 
should  be  held  excusable  if  he  does  not  per- 
form what  he  promises,  unless  for  the  best 
and  most  sufficient  reason.  This  should  be 
especially  true  of  every  politician.  It  shows 
a thoroughly  unhealthy  state  of  mind  when 
the  public  pardons  with  a laugh  failure  to 
keep  a distinct  pledge,  on  the  ground  that  a 
politician  cannot  be  expected  to  confine  him- 
self to  the  truth  when  on  the  stump  or  the 
platform.  A man  should  no  more  be  ex- 
cused for  lying  on  the  stump  than  for  lying 
off  the  stump.  Of  course  matters  may  so 
change  that  it  may  be  impossible  for  him,  or 
highly  inadvisable  for  the  country,  that  he 
should  try  to  do  what  he  in  good  faith  said 
he  was  going  to  do.  But  the  necessity  for 
the  change  should  be  made  very  evident,  aud 
it  should  be  well  understood  that  such  a case 


150 


PROMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


is  the  exception  and  not  the  rule.  As  a 
rule,  and  speaking  with  due  regard  to  the 
exceptions,  it  should  be  taken  as  axiomatic 
that  when  a man  in  public  life  pledges  him- 
self to  a certain  course  of  action  he  shall  as 
a matter  of  course  do  what  he  said  he  would 
do,  and  shall  not  be  held  to  have  acted  hon- 
orably if  he  does  otherwise. 

All  great  fundamental  truths  are  apt  to 
sound  rather  trite,  and  yet  in  spite  of  their 
triteness  they  need  to  be  reiterated  over  and 
over  again.  The  visionary  or  the  self-seek- 
ing knave  who  promises  the  golden  impossi- 
ble, and  the  credulous  dupe  who  is  taken  in 
by  such  a promise,  and  who  in  clutching  at 
the  impossible  loses  the  chance  of  securing 
the  real  though  lesser  good,  are  as  old  as  the 
political  organizations  of  mankind.  Through- 
out the  history  of  the  world  the  nations  who 
have  done  best  in  self-government  are  those 
who . have  demanded  from  their  public  men 
only  the  promise  of  what  can  actually  be 
done  for  righteousness  and  honesty,  and  who 
have  sternly  insisted  that  such  promise  must 
be  kept  in  letter  and  in  spirit. 

So  it  is  with  the  general  question  of  ob- 
taining good  government.  We  cannot  trust 
the  mere  doctrinaire;  we  cannot  trust  the 
mere  closet  reformer,  nor  yet  his  acrid  brother 
who  himself  does  nothing,  but  who  rails  at 
those  who  endure  the  heat  and  burden  of  the 


PROMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


151 


day.  Yet  we  can  trust  still  less  those  base 
beings  who  treat  politics  only  as  a game  out 
of  which  to  wring  a soiled  livelihood,  and  in 
whose  vocabulary  the  word  “practical”  has 
come  to  be  a synonym  for  whatever  is  mean 
and  corrupt.  A man  is  worthless  unless  he 
has  in  him  a lofty  devotion  to  an  ideal,  and 
he  is  worthless  also  unless  he  strives  to  real- 
ize this  ideal  by  practical  methods.  He  must 
promise,  both  to  himself  and  to  others,  only 
what  he  can  perform;  but  what  really  can 
be  performed  he  must  promise,  and  such 
promise  he  must  at  all  hazards  make  good. 

The  problems  that  confront  us  in  this  age 
are,  after  all,  in  their  essence  the  same  as 
those  that  have  always  confronted  free  peo- 
ples striving  to  secure  and  to  keep  free  gov- 
ernment. No  political  philosopher  of  the 
present  day  can  put  the  case  more  clearly 
than  it  was  put  by  the  wonderful  old  Gireeks. 
Says  Aristotle : J^wo  principles  have  to  be 
kept  in  view:  what  is  possible,  what  is  be- 
coming ; at  these  every  man  ought  to  aiin?Q 
Plato  expresses  precisely  the  same  idea  : 
“Those  who  are  not  schooled  and  prac- 
tised in  truth  [who  are  not  honest  and  up- 
right men]  can  never  manage  aright  the 
government,  nor  yet  can  those  who  spend 
their  lives  as  closet  philosophers ; because 
the  former  have  no  high  purpose  to  guide 
their  actions,  while  the  latter  keep  aloof  from 


152 


PROMISE  AND  PERFORMANCE 


public  life,  having  the  idea  that  even  while  yet 
living  they  have  been  translated  to  the  Isl- 
ands of  the  Blest.  . . . [Men  must]  both  con- 
template the  good  and  try  actually  to  achieve 
it.  Thus  the  state  will  be  settled  as  a reality, 
and  not  as  a dream,  like  most  of  those  in- 
habited by  persons  fighting  about  shadows.”  ^ 


1 Translated  freely  and  condensed. 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 

Published  in  “St.  Nicholas,”  Mat,  1900 


THE  AMEEICAN  BOY 


9 

\ 

OF  course  what  we  have  a right  t^expech 
of  the  American  boy  is  that  he  shall 
turn  out  to  be  a good  American  man^  Now, 
the  chances  are  strong  that  he  won’t  be 
much  of  a man  unless  he  is  a good  deal  of  a 
boy.  He  must  not  be  a coward  or  a weak- 
ling, a bully,  a shirk,  or  a prig.  He  must 
work  hard  and  play  hard.  He  must  be  clean- 
minded  and  cl^an-lived,  and  able  to  hold  his 
own  under  all  Circumstances  and  against  all 
comers.  It  is  only  on  these  conditions  that 
he  will  grow  into  the  kind  of  American  man 
of  whom  America  can  be  really  proud. 

There  are  always  in  life  countless  tenden- 
cies for  good  and  for  evil,  and  each  succeed- 
ing generation  sees  some  of  these  tendencies 
strengthened  and  some  weakened ; nor  is  it 
by  any  means  always,  alas ! that  the  tenden- 
cies for  evil  are  weakened  and  those  for  good 
strengthened.  But  during  the  last  few  dec- 
ades there  certainly  have  been  some  nota- 
ble changes  for  good  in  boy  life.  The  great 
growth  in  the  love  of  athletic  sports,  for  in- 
155 


166 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 


stance,  while  fraught  with  danger  if  it  be- 
comes one-sided  and  unhealthy,  has  beyond 
all  question  had  an  excellent  effect  in  in- 
creased manliness.  Forty  or  fifty  years  ago 
the  writer  on  American  morals  was  sure  to 
deplore  the  effeminacy  and  luxury  of  young 
Americans  who  were  born  of  rich  parents. 
The  boy  who  was  well  off  then,  especially  in 
the  big  Eastern  cities,  lived  too  luxuriously, 
took  to  billiards  as  his  chief  innocent  recrea- 
tion, and  felt  small  shame  in  his  inability  to 
take  part  in  rough  pastimes  and  field-sports. 
Nowadays,  whatever  other  faults  the  son  of 
rich  parents  may  tend  to  develop,  he  is  at 
least  forced  by  the  opinion  of  all  his  associ- 
ates of  his  own  age  to  bear  himself  well  in 
manly  exercises  and  to  develop  his  body — 
and  therefore,  to  a certain  extent,  his  char- 
acter—in  the  rough  sports  which  call  for 
pluck,  endurance,  and  physical  address. 

“Of  course  boys  who  live  under  such  fortu- 
nate conditions  that  they  have  to  do  either 
a good  deal  of  outdoor  work  or  a good  deal 
of  what  might  be  called  natural  outdoor 
play  do  not  need  this  athletic  development. 
In  the  Civil  War  the  soldiers  who  came  from 
the  prairie  and  the  backwoods  and  the 
rugged  farms  where  stumps  still  dotted  the 
clearings,  and  who  had  learned  to  ride  in 
their  infancy,  to  shoot  as  soon  as  they  could 
handle  a rifle,  and  to  camp  out  whenever 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 


167 


they  got  the  chance,  were  better  fitted  for 
military  work  than  any  set  of  mere  school 
or  college  athletes  could  possibly  be.  More- 
over, to  mis- estimate  athletics  is  equally  bad 
whether  their  importance  is  magnified  or 
minimized.  The  Greeks  were  famous  ath- 
letes, and  as  long  as  their  athletic  training 
had  a normal  place  in  their  lives,  it  was  a 
good  thing.  But  it  was  a very  bad  thing 
when  they  kept  up  their  athletic  games 
while  letting  the  stern  qualities  of  soldier- 
ship and  statesmanship  sink  into  disuse. 
Some  of  the  younger  readers  of  this  book  will 
certainly  sometime  read  the  famous  letters 
of  the  younger  Pliny,  a Eoman  who  wrote, 
with  what  seems  to  ns  a curiously  modern 
touch,  in  the  first  century  of  the  present  era. 
His  correspondence  with  the  Emperor  Trajan 
is  particularly  interesting ; and  not  the  least 
noteworthy  thing  in  it  is  the  tone  of  contempt 
with  which  he  speaks  of  the  Greek  athletic 
sports,  treating  them  as  the  diversions  of  an 
unwarlike  people  which  it  was  safe  to  en- 
courage in  order  to  keep  the  Greeks  from 
turning  into  anything  formidable.  So  at 
one  time  the  Persian  kings  had  to  forbid 
polo,  because  soldiers  neglected  their  proper 
duties  for  the  fascinations  of  the  game.  We 
cannot  expect  the  best  work  from  soldiers 
who  have  carried  to  an  unhealthy  extreme 
the  sports  and  pastimes  which  would  be 


158 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 


healthy  if  indulged  in  with  moderation,  and 
have  neglected  to  learn  as  they  should  the 
business  of  their  profession.  A soldier 
needs  to  know  how  to  shoot  and  take  cover 
and  shift  for  himself — not  to  box  or  play 
foot-ball.  There  is,  of  course,  always  the 
risk  of  thus  mistaking  means  for  ends.  Fox- 
hunting is  a first-class  sport ; but  one  of  the 
most  absurd  things  in  real  life  is  to  note  the 
bated  breath  with  which  certain  excellent 
fox-hunters,  otherwise  of  quite  healthy 
minds,  speak  of  this  admirable  but  not  over- 
important  pastime.  They  tend  to  make  it 
almost  as  much  of  a fetish  as,  in  the  last 
century,  the  French  and  German  nobles  made 
the  chase  of  the  stag,  when  they  carried 
hunting  and  game-preserving  to  a point 
which  was  ruinous  to  the  national  life. 
Fox-hunting  is  very  good  as  a pastime,  but 
it  is  about  as  poor  a business  as  can  be  fol- 
lowed by  any  man  of  intelligence.  Certain 
writers  about  it  are  fond  of  quoting  the  an- 
ecdote of  a fox-hunter  who,  in  the  days  of 
the  English  civil  war,  was  discovered  pur- 
suing his  favorite  sport  just  before  a great 
battle  between  the  Cavaliers  and  the  Puri- 
tans, and  right  between  their  lines  as  they 
came  together.  These  writers  apparently 
consider  it  a merit  in  this  man  that  when 
his  country  was  in  a death-grapple,  instead 
of  taking  arms  and  hurrying  to  the  defense 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 


159 


of  the  cause  he  believed  right,  he  should 
placidly  have  gone  about  his  usual  sports. 
Of  course,  in  reality  the  chief  serious  use  of 
fox-hunting  is  to  encourage  manliness  and 
vigor,  and  to  keep  men  hardy,  so  that  at  need 
they  can  show  themselves  fit  to  take  part  in 
work  or  strife  for  their  native  land.  When, 
a man  so  far  confuses  ends  and  means  as  to 
think  that  fox-hunting,  or  polo,  or  foot-ball, 
or  whatever  else  the  sport  may  be,  is  to  be 
itself  taken  as  the  end,  instead  of  as  the 
mere  means  of  preparation  to  do  work  that 
counts  when  the  time  arises,  when  the  occa- 
sion calls — why,  that  man  had  better  aban- 
don sport  altogether. 

No  boy  can  afford  to  neglect  his  work, 
and  with  a boy  work,  as  a rule,  means  study. 
Of  course  there  are  occasionally  brilliant 
successes  in  life  where  the  man  has  been 
worthless  as  a student  when  a boy.  To  take 
these  exceptions  as  examples  would  be  as 
unsafe  as  it  would  be  to  advocate  blindness 
because  some  blind  men  have  won  undying 
honor  by  triumphing  over  their  physical 
infirmity  and  accomplishing  great  results  in 
the  world.  I am  no  advocate  of  senseless 
and  excessive  cramming  in  studies,  but  a 
boy  should  work,  and  should  work  hard,  at 
his  lessons — in  the  first  place,  for  the  sake 
of  what  he  will  learn,  and  in  the  next  place, 
for  the  sake  of  the  effect  upon  his  own  char- 


160 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 


acter  of  resolutely  settling  down  to  learn 
it.  Shiftlessness,  slackness,  indifference  in 
studying,  are  almost  certain  to  mean  inabil- 
ity to  get  on  in  other  walks  of  life.  Of 
course,  as  a boy  grows  older  it  is  a good 
thing  if  he  can  shape  his  studies  in  the  di- 
rection toward  which  he  has  a natural  bent ; 
but  whether  he  can  do  this  or  not,  he  must 
put  his  whole  heart  into  them.  I do  not 
believe  in  mischief-doing  in  school  hours,  or 
in  the  kind  of  animal  spirits  that  results  in 
making  bad  scholars;  and  I believe  that 
those  boys  who  take  part  in  rough,  hard 
play  outside  of  school  will  not  find  any  need 
for  horse-play  in  school.  While  they  study 
they  should  study  just  as  hard  as  they  play 
foot-ball  in  a match  game.  It  is  wise  to  obey 
the  homely  old  adage,  “Work  while  you 
work ; play  while  you  play.” 

A boy  needs  both  physical  and  moral 
courage.  Neither  can  take  the  place  of  the 
other.  When  boys  become  men  they  will 
find  out  that  there  are  some  soldiers  very 
brave  in  the  field  who  have  proved  timid 
and  worthless  as  politicians,  and  some  poli- 
ticians who  show  an  entire  readiness  t#  take 
chances  and  assume  responsibilities  in  civil 
affairs,  but  who  lack  the  fighting  edge 
when  opposed  to  physical  danger.  In  each 
case,  with  soldiers  and  politicians  alike, 
there  is  but  half  a virtue.  The  possession 


THE  AMEEICAJSr  BOY 


161 


of  the  courage  of  the  soldier  does  not  excuse 
the  lack  of  courage  in  the  statesman  and, 
even  less  does  the  possession  of  the  courage 
of  the  statesman  excuse  shrinking  on  the 
field  of  battle.  Now,  this  is  all  just  as  true 
of  boys.  A coward  who  will  take  a blow 
without  returning  it  is  a contemptible  crea- 
ture; but,  after  all,  he  is  hardly  as  con- 
temptible as  the  boy  who  dares  not  stand  up 
for  what  he  deems  right  against  the  sneers 
of  his  companions  who  are  themselves 
wrong.  Eidicule  is  one  of  the  favorite 
weapons  of  wickedness,  and  it  is  sometimes 
incomprehensible  how  good  and  brave  boys 
will  be  influenced  for  evil  by  the  jeers  of 
associates  who  have  no  one  quality  that 
calls  for  respect,  but  who  affect  to  laugh  at 
the  very  traits  which  ought  to  be  peculiarly 
the  cause  for  pride. 

There  is  no  need  to  be  a prig.  There  is 
no  need  for  a boy  to  preach  about  his  own 
good  conduct  and  virtue.  If  he  does  he  will 
make  himself  offensive  and  ridiculous.  But 
there  is  urgent  need  that  he  should  practise 
decency ; that  he  should  be  clean  and 
straight,  honest  and  truthful,  gentle  and 
tender,  as  weU  as  brave.  If  he  can  once  get 
to  a proper  understanding  of  things,  he  will 
have  a far  more  hearty  contempt  for  the 
boy  who  has  begun  a course  of  feeble  dissi- 
pation, or  who  is  untruthful,  or  mean,  or 
11 


162 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 


dishonest,  or  cruel,  than  this  boy  and  his 
fellows  can  possibly,  in  return,  feel  for  him. 
The  very  fact  that  the  boy  should  be  manly 
and  able  to  hold  his  own,  that  he  should  be 
ashamed  to  submit  to  bullying  without  in- 
stant retaliation,  should,  in  return,  make 
him  abhor  any  form  of  bullying,  cruelty,  or 
brutality. 

There  are  two  delightful  books,  Thomas 
Hughes’s  “ Tom  Brown  at  Rugby,”  and  Al- 
drich’s “ Story  of  a Bad  Boy,”  which  I hope 
every  boy  still  reads ; and  I think  American 
boys  will  always  feel  more  in  sympathy  with 
Aldrich’s  story,  because  there  is  in  it  none 
of  the  fagging,  and  the  bullying  which  goes 
with  fagging,  the  account  of  which,  and  the 
acceptance  of  which,  always  puzzle  an 
American  admirer  of  Tom  Brown. 

There  is  the  same  contrast  between  two 
stories  of  Kipling’s.  One,  called  “ Captains 
Courageous,”  describes  in  the  liveliest  way 
just  what  a boy  should  be  and  do.  The 
hero  is  painted  in  the  beginning  as  the 
spoiled,  over-indulged  child  of  wealthy  pa- 
rents, of  a type  which  we  do  sometimes  un- 
fortunately see,  and  than  which  there  exist 
few  things  more  objectionable  on  the  face 
of  the  broad  earth.  This  boy  is  afterward 
thrown  on  his  own  resources,  amid  whole- 
some surroundings,  and  is  forced  to  work 
hard  among  boys  and  men  who  are  real 


THE  AMERICAN  BOY 


163 


boys  and  real  men  doing  real  work.  The 
effect  is  invaluable.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
one  wishes  to  find  types  of  boys  to  be 
avoided  with  utter  dislike,  one  will  find 
them  in  another  story  by  Kipling,  called 
“ Stalky  & Co.,”  a story  which  ought  never 
to  have  been  written,  for  there  is  hardly  a 
single  form  of  meanness  which  it  does  not 
seem  to  extol,  or  of  school  mismanagement 
which  it  does  not  seem  to  applaud.  Bullies 
do  not  make  brave  men;  and  boys  or  men 
of  foul  life  cannot  become  good  citizens, 
good  Americans,  until  they  change;  and 
even  after  the  change  scars  will  be  left  on 
their  souls. 

The  boy  can  best  become  a good  man  by 
being  a good  boy— not  a goody-goody  boy, 
but  just  a plain  good  boy.  I do  not  mean 
that  he  must  love  only  the  negative  virtues ; 
I mean  he  must  love  the  positive  virtues 
also.  “ Good,”  in  the  largest  sense,  should 
include  whatever  is  fine,  straightforward, 
clean,  brave,  and  manly.  The  best  boys  I 
know — the  best  men  I know — are  good,  ab 
their  studies  or  their  business,  fearless  and 
stalwart,  hated  and  feared  by  all  that  is 
wicked  and  depraved,  incapable  of  submit- 
ting to  wrongrdoing,  and  equally  incapable 
of  being  aught  but  tender  to  the  weak  and 
helpless.  A healthy-minded  boy  should 
feel  hearty  contempt  for  the  coward,  and 


164 


THE  AMEEICAN  BOY 


even  more  hearty  indignation  for  the  boy 
who  bullies  girls  or  small  boys,  or  tortures 
animals.  One  prime  reason  for  abhorring 
cowards  is  because  every  good  boy  should 
have  it  in  him  to  thrash  the  objectionable 
boy  as  the  need  arises. 

Of  course  the  effect  that  a thoroughly 
manly,  thoroughly  straight  and  upright  boy 
can  have  upon  the  companions  of  his  own 
age,  and  upon  those  who  are  younger,  is  in- 
calculable. If  he  is  not  thoroughly  manly, 
then  they  will  not  respect  him,  and  his  good 
qualities  wiU  count  for  but  little ; while,  of 
course,  if  he  is  mean,  cruel,  or  wicked,  then 
his  physical  strength  and  force  of  mind 
merely  make  him  so  much  the  more  objec- 
tionable a member  of  society.  He  cannot 
do  good  work  if  he  is  not  strong  and  does 
not  try  with  his  whole  heart  and  soul  to 
count  in  any  contest ; and  his  strength  will 
be  a curse  to  himself  and  to  every  one  else 
if  he  does  not  have  thorough  command  over 
himself  and  over  his  own  evil  passions,  and 
if  he  does  not  use  his  strength  on  the  side 
|Of  decency,  justice,  and  fair  dealing. 

1 In*^ort,  in  life,  as  in  a foot-ball  game,  the 
['principle  to  follow  is: 

j Hit  the  line  hard;  don’t  foul  and  don’t 
1 shirk,  but  hit  the  line  hard ! 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS  AND 
UNPREPAREDNESS 


Published  in  the  “Century,”  November,  1899 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS  AND 
UNPREPAREDNESS 


9 


^ the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish-Ameri- 


can  war,  M.  Pierre  Loti,  member  of 
the  French  Academy  and  cultivated  ex- 
ponent of  the  hopes  and  beliefs  of  the  aver- 
age citizen  of  continental  Europe  in  regard 
to  the  contest,  was  at  Madrid.  Dewey’s 
victory  caused  him  grief;  but  he  consoled 
himself,  after  watching  a parade  of  the 
Spanish  troops,  by  remarking : “ They  are 
indeed  still  the  solid  and  splendid  Spanish 
troops,  heroic  in  every  epoch — it  needs  only 
to  look  at  them  to  divine  the  woe  that  awaits 
the  American  shopkeepers  when  brought 
face  to  face  with  such  soldiers.”  The  excel- 
lent M.  Loti  had  already  explained  Manila 
by  vague  references  to  American  bombs 
loaded  with  petroleum,  and  to  a devilish  me- 
chanical ingenuity  wholly  unaccompanied 
by  either  humanity  or  courage,  and  he  still 
allowed  himself  to  dwell  on  the  hope  that 
there  were  reserved  for  America  des  surprises 
sanglantes. 

M.  Loti’s  views  on  military  matters  need 


167 


168 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS 


not  detain  ns,  for  his  attitude  toward  the 
war  was  merely  the  attitude  of  continental 
Europe  generally,  in  striking  contrast  to 
that  of  England.  But  it  is  a curious  fact 
that  his  view  reflects  not  unfairly  two  differ- 
ent opinions,  which  two  different  classes  of 
our  people  would  have  expressed  before  the 
event — opinions  singularly  falsifled  by  the 
fact.  Our  pessimists  feared  that  we  had 
lost  courage  and  fighting  capacity ; some  of 
our  optimists  asserted  that  we  needed  neither, 
in  view  of  our  marvelous  wealth  and  extraor- 
dinary inventiveness  and  mechanical  skill. 
The  national  trait  of  “ smartness,”  used  in 
the  Yankee  sense  of  the  word,  has  very  good 
and  very  bad  sides.  Among  the  latter  is  its 
tendency  to  create  the  belief  that  we  need 
not  prepare  for  war,  because  somehow  we 
shall  be  able  to  win  by  some  novel  patent 
device,  some  new  trick  or  new  invention 
developed  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  by 
the  ingenuity  of  our  people.  In  this  way  it 
is  hoped  to  provide  a substitute  for  prepared- 
ness— that  is,  for  years  of  patient  and  faith- 
ful attention  to  detail  in  advance.  It  is  even 
sometimes  said  that  these  mechanical  devices 
will  be  of  so  terrible  a character  as  to  nullify 
the  courage  which  has  always  in  the  past 
been  the  prime  factor  in  winning  battles. 

Now,  as  all  sound  military  judges  knew 
in  advance  must  inevitably  be  the  case,  the 


AND  UNPEEPAEEDNESS 


169 


experience  of  the  Spanish  war  completely 
falsified  every  prediction  of  this  kind.  We 
did  not  win  through  any  special  ingenuity. 
Not  a device  of  any  kind  was  improvised 
during  or  immediately  before  the  war  which 
was  of  any  practical  service.  The  “bombs 
enveloped  in  petroleum”  had  no  existence 
save  in  the  brains  of  the  Spaniards  and  their 
more  credulous  sympathizers.  Our  navy 
won  because  of  its  preparedness  and  because 
of  the  splendid  seamanship  and  gunnery 
which  had  been  handed  down  as  traditional 
in  the  service,  and  had  been  perfected  by 
the  most  careful  work.  The  army,  at  the 
only  point  where  it  was  seriously  opposed, 
did  its  work  by  sheer  dogged  courage  and 
hard  fighting,  in  spite  of  an  unpreparedness 
which  almost  brought  disaster  upon  it,  and 
would  without  doubt  actually  have  done  so 
had  not  the  defects  and  shortcomings  of  the 
Spanish  administration  been  even  greater 
than  our  own. 

We  won  the  war  in  a very  short  time,  and 
without  having  to  expend  more  than  the 
merest  fraction  of  our  strength.  The  navy 
was  shown  to  be  in  good  shape ; and  Secre- 
tary Root,  to  whom  the  wisdom  of  President 
McKinley  has  intrusted  the  War  Depart- 
ment, has  already  shown  himself  as  good  a 
man  as  ever  held  the  portfolio— a man  whose 
administration  is  certainly  to  be  of  inesti- 


170 


l^IILITAEY  PEEPABEDNESS 


mable  service  to  the  army  and  to  the  coun- 
try. In  consequence,  too  many  of  our  people 
show  signs  of  thinking  that,  after  all,  every- 
thing was  all  right,  and  is  all  right  now; 
that  we  need  not  bother  ourselves  to  learn 
any  lessons  that  are  not  agreeable  to  us,  and 
that  if  in  the  future  we  get  into  a war  with 
a more  formidable  power  than  Spain,  we 
shall  pull  through  somehow.  Such  a view 
is  unjust  to  the  nation,  and  particularly  un- 
just to  the  splendid  men  of  the  army  and 
of  the  navy,  who  would  be  sacrificed  to  it, 
should  we  ever  engage  in  a serious  war  with- 
out having  learned  the  lessons  that  the  year 
1898  ought  to  have  taught. 

If  we  wish  to  get  an  explanation  of  the 
efficiency  of  our  navy  in  1898,  and  of  the 
astonishing  ease  with  which  its  victories 
were  won,  we  must  go  a long  way  back  of 
that  year,  and  study  not  only  its  history, 
but  the  history  of  the  Spanish  navy  for 
many  decades.  Of  course  any  such  study 
must  begin  with  a prompt  admission  of 
the  splendid  natural  quality  of  our  officers 
and  men.  On  the  bridge,  in  the  gun-turrets, 
in  the  engine-room,  and  behind  the  quick- 
firers,  every  one  alike,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  was  eager  for  the  war,  and  was, 
in  heart,  mind,  and  body,  of  the  very  type 
which  makes  the  best  kind  of  fighting  man. 

Many  of  the  officers  of  our  ships  have 


AND  UNPEEPAEEDNESS 


171 


mentioned  to  me  that  during  the  war  punish- 
ments almost  ceased,  because  the  men  who 
got  into  scrapes  in  times  of  peace  were  so 
aroused  and  excited  by  the  chance  of  battle 
that  their  behavior  was  perfect.  We  read 
now  and  then  of  foreign  services  where  men 
hate  their  officers,  have  no  community  of 
interest  with  them,  and  no  desire  to  fight  for 
the  flag.  Most  emphatically  such  is  not  the 
case  in  om*  service.  The  discipline  is  just 
but  not  severe,  unless  severity  is  impera- 
tively called  for.  As  a whole,  the  officers 
have  the  welfare  of  the  men  very  much  at 
heart,  and  take  care  of  their  bodies  with  the 
same  forethought  that  they  show  in  training 
them  for  battle.  The  physique  of  the  men 
is  excellent,  and  to  it  are  joined  eagerness  to 
learn,  and  readiness  to  take  risks  and  to 
stand  danger  unmoved. 

Nevertheless,  all  this,  though  indispen- 
sable as  a base,  would  mean  nothing  what- 
ever for  the  efficiency  of  the  navy  without 
years  of  careful  preparation  and  training. 
A war-ship  is  such  a complicated  machine, 
and  such  highly  specialized  training  is  self- 
evidently  needed  to  command  it,  that  our 
naval  commanders,  unlike  our  military  com- 
manders, are  freed  from  having  to  combat 
the  exasperating  belief  that  the  average 
civilian  could  at  short  notice  do  their 
work.  Of  course,  in  reality  a special  order 


172 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS 


of  ability  and  special  training  are  needed  to 
enable  a man  to  command  troops  success- 
fully; but  tbe  need  is  not  so  obvious  as  on 
shipboard.  No  civilian  could  be  five  minutes 
on  a battle-ship  without  realizing  his  unfit- 
ness to  command  it ; but  there  are  any  num- 
ber of  civilians  who  firmly  believe  they  can 
command  regiments,  when  they  have  not  a 
single  trait,  natural  or  acquired,  that  really 
fits  them  for  the  task.  A blunder  in  the  one 
case  meets  with  instant,  open,  and  terrible 
punishment;  in  the  other,  it  is  at  the  mo- 
ment only  a source  of  laughter  or  exaspera- 
tion to  the  few,  ominous  though  it  may  be 
for  the  future.  A colonel  who  issued  the 
wrong  order  would  cause  confusion.  A ship- 
captain  by  such  an  order  might  wreck  his 
ship.  It  follows  that  the  navy  is  compara- 
tively free  in  time  of  war  from  the  presence 
in  the  higher  ranks  of  men  utterly  unfit  to 
perform  their  duties.  The  nation  realizes  that 
it  cannot  improvise  naval  officers  even  out  of 
first-rate  skippers  of  merchantmen  and  pas- 
senger-steamers. Such  men  could  be  used 
to  a certain  extent  as  under-officers  to  meet 
a sudden  and  great  emergency ; but  at  best 
they  would  meet  it  imperfectly,  and  this  the 
public  at  large  understands. 

There  is,  however,  some  failure  to  under- 
stand that  much  the  same  condition  pre- 
vails among  ordinary  seamen.  The  public 


AND  UNPREPAEEDNESS 


173 


speakers  and  newspaper  writers  who  may 
be  loudest  in  clamoring  for  war  are  often 
precisely  the  men  who  clamor  against  prep- 
arations for  war.  Whether  from  sheer  ig- 
norance or  from  demagogy,  they  frequently 
assert  that,  as  this  is  the  day  of  mechanics, 
even  on  the  sea,  and  as  we  have  a large 
mechanical  population,  we  could  at  once  fit 
out  any  number  of  vessels  with  men  who 
would  from  the  first  do  their  duty  thoroughly 
and  well. 

As  a matter  of  fact,  though  the  sea- 
mechanic  has  replaced  the  sailorman,  yet  it 
is  almost  as  necessary  as  ever  that  a man 
should  have  the  sea  habit  in  order  to  be  of  use 
aboard  ship ; and  it  is  infinitely  more  neces- 
sary than  in  former  times  that  a man-of- 
war’s-man  should  have  especial  training  with 
his  guns  before  he  can  use  them  aright.  In 
the  old  days  cannon  were  very  simple ; sight- 
ing was  done  roughly;  and  the  ordinary 
merchant  seaman  speedily  grew  fit  to  do 
his  share  of  work  on  a frigate.  Nowadays 
men  must  be  carefully  trained  for  a con- 
siderable space  of  time  before  they  can  be 
of  any  assistance  whatever  in  handling  and 
getting  good  results  from  the  formidable  en- 
gines of  destruction  on  battle-ship,  cruiser, 
and  torpedo-boat.  Crews  cannot  be  impro- 
vised. To  get  the  very  best  work  out  of 
them,  they  should  all  be  composed  of  trained 


174 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS 


and  seasoned  men;  and  in  any  event  they 
should  not  be  sent  against  a formidable  ad- 
versary unless  each  crew  has  for  a nucleus 
a large  body  of  such  men  filling  all  the  im- 
portant positions.  From  time  immemorial 
it  has  proved  impossible  to  improvise  so 
much  as  a makeshift  navy  for  use  against  a 
formidable  naval  opponent.  Any  such  effort 
must  meet  with  disaster. 

Most  fortunately,  the  United  States  had 
grown  to  realize  this  some  time  before  the 
Spanish  war  broke  out.  After  the  gigantic 
Civil  War  the  reaction  from  the  strain  of  the 
contest  was  such  that  our  navy  was  permit- 
ted to  go  to  pieces.  Fifteen  years  after  the 
close  of  the  contest  in  which  Farragut  took 
rank  as  one  of  the  great  admirals  of  all  time, 
the  splendid  navy  of  which  he  was  the  chief 
ornament  had  become  an  object  of  derision 
to  every  third-rate  power  in  Europe  and 
South  America.  The  elderly  monitors  and 
wooden  steamers,  with  their  old-fashioned 
smooth-bore  guns,  would  have  been  as  in- 
competent to  face  the  modern  ships  of  the 
period  as  the  Congress  and  the  Cumberland 
were  to  face  the  Merrimac.  Our  men  were  as 
brave  as  ever,  but  in  war  their  courage  would 
have  been  of  no  more  avail  than  the  splendid 
valor  of  the  men  who  sank  with  their-  guns 
firing  and  flags  flying  when  the  great  Confed- 
erate ironclad  came  out  to  Hampton  Eoads. 


AND  UNPREPAEEDNESS 


175 


At  last  the  nation  awoke  from  its  lethargy. 
In  1883,  under  the  administration  of  Presi- 
dent Arthur,  when  Secretary  Chandler  was  in 
the  Navy  Department,  the  work  was  begun. 
The  first  step  taken  was  the  refusal  to  repair 
the  more  antiquated  wooden  ships,  and  the 
building  of  new  steel  ships  to  replace  them. 
One  of  the  ships  thus  laid  down  was  the  Boston, 
which  was  in  Dewey’s  fleet.  It  is  therefore 
merely  the  literal  truth  to  say  that  the  prepa- 
rations which  made  Dewey’s  victory  possible 
began  just  fifteen  years  before  the  famous 
day  when  he  steamed  into  Manila  Bay. 
Every  senator  and  congressman  who  voted 
an  appropriation  which  enabled  Secretary 
Chandler  to  begin  the  upbuilding  of  the  new 
navy,  the  President  who  advised  the  course, 
the  secretary  who  had  the  direct  manage- 
ment of  it,  the  ship-builder  in  whose  yard 
the  ship  was  constructed,  the  skilled  experts 
who  planned  her  hull,  engine,  and  guns,  and 
the  skilled  workmen  who  worked  out  these 
plans,  all  alike  are  entitled  to  their  share  in 
the  credit  of  the  great  Manila  victory. 

The  majority  of  the  men  can  never  be 
known  by  name,  but  the  fact  that  they  did 
well  their  part  in  the  deed  is  of  vastly  more 
importance  than  the  obtaining  of  any  re- 
ward for  it,  whether  by  way  of  recognition 
or  otherwise;  and  this  fact  will  always  re- 
main. Nevertheless,  it  is  important  for  our 


176 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS 


own  future  that,  so  far  as  possible,  we  should 
recognize  the  men  who  did  well.  This  is 
peculiarly  important  in  the  case  of  Congress, 
whose  action  has  been  the  indispensable 
prerequisite  for  every  effort  to  build  up  the 
navy,  as  Congress  provided  the  means  for 
each  step. 

As  there  was  always  a division  in  Con- 
gress, while  in  the  popular  mind  the  whole 
body  is  apt  to  be  held  accountable  for  any 
deed,  good  or  ill,  done  by  the  majority,  it  is 
much  to  be  wished,  in  the  interest  of  justice, 
that  some  special  historian  of  the  navy 
would  take  out  from  the  records  the  votes, 
and  here  and  there  the  speeches,  for  and 
against  the  successive  measures  by  which 
the  navy  was  built  up.  Every  man  who  by 
vote  and  voice  from  time  to  time  took  part 
in  adding  to  our  fleet,  in  buying  the  armor, 
in  preparing  the  gun-factories,  in  increasing 
the  personnel  and  enabling  it  to  practise, 
deserves  well  of  the  whole  nation,  and  a 
record  of  his  action  should  be  kept,  that  his 
children  may  feel  proud  of  him.  No  less 
clearly  should  we  understand  that  through- 
out these  fifteen  years  the  men  who,  whether 
from  honest  but  misguided  motives,  from 
short-sightedness,  from  lack  of  patriotism, 
or  from  demagogy,  opposed  the  building  up 
of  the  navy,  have  deserved  ill  of  the  nation, 
exactly  as  did  those  men  who  recently  pre- 


AND  UNPEEPAEEDNESS 


177 


vented  the  purchase  of  armor  for  the  battle- 
ships, or,  under  the  lead  of  Senator  Gorman, 
prevented  the  establishment  of  our  army  on 
the  footing  necessary  for  our  national  needs. 
If  disaster  comes  through  lack  of  prepared- 
ness, the  fault  necessarily  lies  far  less  with 
the  men  under  whom  the  disaster  actually 
occurs  than  with  those  to  whose  wrong- 
headedness or  short-sighted  indifference  in 
time  past  the  lack  of  preparedness  is  due. 

The  mistakes,  the  blunders,  and  the  short- 
comings in  the  army  management  during 
the  summer  of  1898  should  be  credited 
mainly,  not  to  any  one  in  office  in  1898,  but 
to  the  public  servants  of  the  people,  and 
therefore  to  the  people  themselves,  who  per- 
mitted the  army  to  rust  since  the  Civil  War 
with  a wholly  faulty  administration,  and 
with  no  chance  whatever  to  perfect  itself 
by  practice,  as  the  navy  was  perfected.  In 
like  manner,  any  trouble  that  may  come 
upon  the  army,  and  therefore  upon  the  na- 
tion, in  the  next  few  years,  will  be  due  to 
the  failure  to  provide  for  a thoroughly  re- 
organized regular  army  of  adequate  size  in 
1898 ; and  for  this  failure  the  members  in 
the  Senate  and  the  House  who  took  the  lead 
against  increasing  the  regular  army,  and 
reorganizing  it,  will  be  primarily  responsi- 
ble. On  them  will  rest  the  blame  of  any 

check  to  the  national  arms,  and  the  honor 
12 


178 


MILITAEY  PEEPAEEDNESS 


that  will  undoubtedly  be  won  for  the  flag  by 
our  army  will  have  been  won  in  spite  of  their 
sinister  opposition. 

In  May,  1898,  when  our  battle-ships  were 
lying  off  Havana  and  the  Spanish  torpedo- 
boat  destroyers  were  crossing  the  ocean,  our 
best  commanders  felt  justifiable  anxiety  be- 
cause we  had  no  destroyers  to  guard  our  fleet 
against  the  Spanish  destroyers.  Thanks  to 
the  blunders  and  lack  of  initiative  of  the 
Spaniards,  they  made  no  good  use  whatever 
of  their  formidable  boats,  sending  them 
against  our  ships  in  daylight,  when  it  was 
hopeless  to  expect  anything  from  them. 

But  in  war  it  is  unsafe  to  trust  to  the 
blunders  of  the  adversary  to  offset  our  own 
blunders.  Many  a naval  officer,  when  with 
improvised  craft  of  small  real  worth  he 
was  trying  to  guard  our  battle-ships  against 
the  terrible  possibilities  of  an  attack  by  tor- 
pedo-boat destroyers  in  the  darkness,  must 
have  thought  with  bitterness  how  a year 
before,  when  Senator  Lodge  and  those  who 
thought  like  him  were  striving  to  secure  an 
adequate  support  of  large,  high-class  tor- 
pedo-boats, the  majority  of  the  Senate  fol- 
lowed the  lead  of  Senator  Gorman  in 
opposition.  So  in  the  future,  if  what  we 
all  most  earnestly  hope  will  not  happen  does 
happen,  and  we  are  engaged  in  war  with 
some  formidable  sea  power,  any  failure  of 


AND  XJNPREPAEEDNESS 


179 


our  arms  resulting  from  an  inadequate  num- 
ber of  battle-ships,  or  imperfectly  prepared 
battle-ships,  will  have  to  be  credited  to 
those  members  of  Congress  who  opposed 
increasing  the  number  of  ships,  or  opposed 
giving  them  proper  armament,  for  no  matter 
what  reason.  On  the  other  hand,  the  na- 
tional consciousness  of  capacity  to  vindicate 
national  honor  must  be  due  mainly  to  the 
action  of  those  congressmen  who  have  in 
fact  built  up  our  fleet. 

Secretary  Chandler  was  succeeded  by  a 
line  of  men,  each  of  whom,  however  he  might 
differ  from  the  others  politically  and  per- 
sonally, sincerely  desired  and  strove  hard 
for  the  upbuilding  of  the  navy.  Under 
Messrs.  Whitney,  Tracy,  Herbert,  and  Long 
the  work  has  gone  steadily  forward,  thanks, 
of  course,  to  the  fact  that  successive  Con- 
gresses, Democratic  and  Eepublican  alike, 
have  permitted  it  to  go  forward. 

But  the  appropriation  of  money  and  the 
building  of  ships  were  not  enough.  We 
must  keep  steadily  in  mind  that  not  only 
was  it  necessary  to  build  the  navy,  but  it  was 
equally  necessary  to  train  our  officers  and 
men  aboard  it  by  actual  practice.  If  in  1883 
we  had  been  able  suddenly  to  purchase  our 
present  battle-ships,  cruisers,  and  torpedo- 
boats,  they  could  not  have  been  handled 
with  any  degree  of  efficiency  by  our  officers 


180 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS 


and  crews  as  they  then  were.  Still  less 
would  it  he  possible  to  handle  them  by  im- 
provised crews.  In  an  emergency  bodies  of 
men  like  our  naval  militia  can  do  special  bits 
of  work  excellently,  and,  thanks  to  their  high 
average  of  character  and  intellect,  they  are 
remarkably  good  makeshifts,  but  it  would  be 
folly  to  expect  from  them  all  that  is  expected 
from  a veteran  crew  of  trained  man-of-war’s- 
men.  And  if  we  are  ever  pitted  ship  for 
ship  on  equal  terms  against  the  first-class 
navy  of  a first-class  power,  we  shall  need 
our  best  captains  and  our  best  crews  if  we 
are  to  win. 

As  fast  as  the  new  navy  was  built  we  had 
to  break  in  the  men  to  handle  it.  The  young 
ofiicers  who  first  took  hold  and  developed 
the  possibilities  of  our  torpedo-boats,  for 
instance,  really  deserve  as  much  credit  as 
their  successors  have  rightly  received  for 
handling  them  with  dash  and  skill  during 
the  war.  The  admirals  who  first  exercised 
the  new  ships  in  squadrons  were  giving  the 
training  without  which  Dewey  and  Sampson 
would  have  found  their  tasks  incomparably 
more  difficult.  As  for  the  ordinary  officers 
and  seamen,  of  course  it  was  their  incessant 
practice  in  handling  the  ships  and  the  guns 
at  sea,  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  both  alone 
and  in  company,  year  in  and  year  out,  that 
made  them  able  to  keep  up  the  never-relax- 


AND  UNPEEPAEEDNESS 


181 


iDg  night  blockade  at  Santiago,  to  steam 
into  Manila  Bay  in  the  darkness,  to  prevent 
breakdowns  and  make  repairs  of  the  ma- 
chinery, and  finally  to  hit  what  they  aimed 
at  when  the  battle  was  on.  In  the  naval 
bureaus  the  great  bulk  of  what  in  the  army 
would  be  called  staff  places  are  held  by  line 
officers.  The  men  who  made  ready  the  guns 
were  the  same  men  who  afterward  used  them. 
In  the  Engineering  Bureau  were  the  men  who 
had  handled  or  were  to  handle  the  engines 
in  action.  The  Bureau  of  Navigation,  the 
Bureauof  Equipment,  the  Bureau  of  Informa- 
tion, were  held  by  men  who  had  commanded 
ships  in  actual  service,  or  who  were  thus  to 
command  them  against  the  Spaniards.  The 
head  of  the  Bureau  of  Navigation  is  the  chief 
of  staff,  and  he  has  always  been  an  officer  of 
distinction,  detailed,  like  all  of  the  other 
bureau  chiefs,  for  special  service.  From  the 
highest  to  the  lowest  officer,  every  naval 
man  had  seen  and  taken  part,  during  time 
of  peace,  in  the  work  which  he  would  have 
to  do  in  time  of  war.  The  commodores  and 
captains  who  took  active  part  in  the  war  had 
commanded  fleets  in  sea  service,  or  at  the 
least  had  been  in  command  of  single  ships  in 
these  fleets.  There  was  not  one  thing  they 
were  to  do  in  war  which  they  had  not  done 
in  peace,  save  actually  receive  the  enemy’s 
fire. 


182 


MILITAKY  PREPAREDNESS 


Contrast  this  with,  the  army.  The  material 
in  the  army  is  exactly  as  good  as  that  in  the 
navy,  and  in  the  lower  ranks  the  excellence 
is  as  great.  In  no  service,  ashore  or  afloat, 
in  the  world  could  better  men  of  their  grade 
be  found  than  the  lieutenants,  and  indeed 
the  captains,  of  the  infantry  and  dismounted 
cavalry  at  Santiago.  But  in  the  army  the 
staff  bureaus  are  permanent  positions,  in- 
stead of  being  held,  as  of  course  they  should 
be,  by  officers  detailed  from  the  line,  with 
the  needs  of  the  line  and  experiences  of 
actual  service  fresh  in  their  minds. 

The  artillery  had  for  thirty-five  years  had 
no  field-practice  that  was  in  the  shghtest 
degree  adequate  to  its  needs,  or  that  com- 
pared in  any  way  with  the  practice  received 
by  the  different  companies  and  troops  of  the 
infantry  and  cavalry.  The  bureaus  in  W ash- 
ington  were  absolutely  enmeshed  in  red  tape, 
and  were  held  for  the  most  part  by  elderly 
men,  of  fine  records  in  the  past,  who  were 
no  longer  fit  to  break  through  routine  and 
to  show  the  extraordinary  energy,  business 
capacity,  initiative,  and  willingness  to  accept 
responsibility  which  were  needed.  Finally, 
the  higher  officers  had  been  absolutely  denied 
that  chance  to  practise  their  profession  to 
which  the  higher  officers  of  the  navy  had 
long  been  accustomed.  Every  time  a war- 
ship goes  to  sea  and  cruises  around  the 


AND  UNPREPAEEDNESS 


183 


world,  its  captain  has  just  such  an  experi- 
ence as  the  colonel  of  a regiment  would  have 
if  sent  off  for  a six  or  eight  months’  march, 
and  if  during  those  six  or  eight  months  he 
incessantly  practised  his  regiment  in  every 
item  of  duty  which  it  would  have  to  perform 
in  battle.  Every  war-ship  in  the  American 
navy,  and  not  a single  regiment  in  the 
American  army,  had  had  this  experience. 

Every  naval  captain  had  exercised  com- 
mand for  long  periods,  under  conditions 
which  made  up  nine  tenths  of  what  he 
would  have  to  encounter  in  war.  Hardly  a 
colonel  had  such  an  experience  to  his  credit. 
The  regiments  were  not  even  assembled, 
but  were  scattered  by  companies  here  and 
there.  After  a man  ceased  being  a junior 
captain  he  usually  had  hardly  any  chance 
for  field-service ; it  was  the  lieutenants  and 
junior  captains  who  did  most  of  the  field- 
work in  the  West  of  recent  years.  Of  course 
there  were  exceptions;  even  at  Santiago 
there  were  generals  and  colonels  who  showed 
themselves  not  only  good  fighters,  but 
masters  of  their  profession ; and  in  the 
Philippines  the  war  has  developed  admira- 
ble leaders,  so  that  now  we  have  ready  the 
right  man ; but  the  general  rule  remains  true. 
The  best  man  alive,  if  allowed  to  rust  at  a 
three-company  post,  or  in  a garrison  near 
some  big  city,  for  ten  or  fifteen  years,  will 


184 


MILITARY  PREPAREDNESS 


find  himself  in  straits  if  suddenly  called  to 
command  a division,  or  mayhap  even  an 
army-corps,  on  a foreign  expedition,  espe- 
cially when  not  one  of  his  important  subordi- 
nates has  ever  so  much  as  seen  five  thousand 
troops  gathered,  fed,  sheltered,  manoeuvered, 
and  shipped.  The  marvel  is,  not  that  there 
was  blundering,  but  that  there  was  so  little, 
in  the  late  war  with  Spain. 

Captain  (now  Colonel)  John  Bigelow,  Jr., 
in  his  account  of  his  personal  experiences  in 
command  of  a troop  of  cavalry  during  the 
Santiago  campaign,  has  pictured  the  welter 
of  confusion  during  that  campaign,  and  the 
utter  lack  of  organization,  and  of  that  skilled 
leadership  which  can  come  only  through 
practice.  His  book  should  be  studied  by 
every  man  who  wishes  to  see  our  army  made 
what  it  should  be.  In  the  Santiago  campaign 
the  army  was  more  than  once  uncomfortably 
near  grave  disaster,  from  which  it  was  saved 
by  the  remarkable  fighting  qualities  of  its 
individual  fractions,  and,  above  all,  by  the 
incompetency  of  its  foes.  To  go  against  a 
well-organized,  well-handled,  well-led  foreign 
foe  under  such  conditions  would  inevitably 
have  meant  failure  and  humiliation.  Of 
course  party  demagogues  and  the  thought- 
less generally  are  sure  to  credit  these  dis- 
asters to  the  people  under  whom  they  occur, 
to  the  secretary,  or  to  the  commander  of  the 
army. 


AND  UNPEEPAREDNESS 


185 


As  a matter  of  fact,  the  blame  must  rest 
in  all  such  cases  far  less  with  them  than 
with  those  responsible  for  the  existence  of 
the  system.  Even  if  we  had  the  best  secre- 
tary of  war  the  country  could  supply  and 
the  best  general  the  army  could  furnish,  it 
would  be  impossible  for  them  offhand  to  get 
good  results  if  the  nation,  through  its  repre- 
sentatives, had  failed  to  make  adequate  pro- 
vision for  a proper  army,  and  to  provide  for 
the  reorganization  of  the  army  and  for  its  prac- 
tice in  time  of  peace.  The  whole  staff  system, 
and  much  else,  should  be  remodeled.  Above 
all,  the  army  should  be  practised  in  mass  in 
the  actual  work  of  marching  and  camping. 
Only  thus  will  it  be  possible  to  train  the 
commanders,  the  quartermasters,  the  com- 
missaries, the  doctors,  so  that  they  may  by 
actual  experience  learn  to  do  their  duties, 
as  naval  officers  by  actual  experience  have 
learned  to  do  theirs.  Only  thus  can  we  do 
full  justice  to  as  splendid  and  gallant  a body 
of  men  as  any  nation  ever  had  the  good  luck 
to  include  among  its  armed  defenders. 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


PuBiiisHED  IN  “McClure’s  Magazine,”  October,  3899 


ADMIRAL  DEWET 


9 


)MIRAL  DEWEY  lias  done  more  tlian 


add  a glorious  page  to  our  history; 
more  even  than  do  a deed  the  memory  of 
■which  will  always  be  an  inspiration  to  his 
countrymen,  and  especially  his  countrymen 
of  his  own  profession.  He  has  also  taught 
us  a lesson  which  should  have  profound 
practical  effects,  if  only  we  are  willing  to 
learn  it  aright. 

In  the  first  place,  he  partly  grasped  and 
partly  made  his  opportunity.  Of  course,  in  a 
certain  sense,  no  man  can  absolutely  make  an 
opportunity.  There  were  a number  of  admi- 
rals who  during  the  dozen  years  preceding  the 
Spanish  war  were  retired  without  the  oppor- 
tunity of  ever  coming  where  it  was  possible  to 
distinguish  themselves;  and  it  may  be  that 
some  of  these  lacked  nothing  but  the  chance. 
Nevertheless,  when  the  chance  does  come, 
t only  the  great  man  can  see  it  instantly  and 
use  it  aright.  In  the  second  place,  it  must 
always  be  remembered  that  the  power  of 
using  the  chance  aright  comes  only  to  the 


189 


190 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


man  who  has  faithfully  and  for  long  years 
made  ready  himself  and  his  weapons  for  the 
possible  need.  Finally,  and  most  important 
of  all,  it  should  ever  be  kept  in  mind  that 
the  man  who  does  a great  work  must  almost 
invariably  owe  the  possibility  of  doing  it  to 
the  faithful  work  of  other  men,  either  at  the 
time  or  long  before.  Without  his  brilliancy 
their  labor  might  be  wasted,  but  without 
their  labor  his  brilliancy  would  be  of  no  avail. 

It  has  been  said  that  it  was  a mere  acci- 
dent that  Dewey  happened  to  be  in  com- 
mand of  the  Asiatic  Squadron  when  the 
war  with  Spain  broke  out.  This  is  not  the 
fact.  He  was  sent  to  command  it  in  the  fall 
of  1897,  because,  to  use  the  very  language 
employed  at  the  time,  it  was  deemed  wise 
to  have  there  a man  “who  could  go  into 
Manila  if  necessary.”  He  owed  the  appoint- 
ment to  the  high  professional  reputation  he 
enjoyed,  and  to  the  character  he  had  estab- 
lished for  willingness  to  accept  responsibil- 
ity, for  sound  judgment,  and  for  entire 
fearlessness. 

Probably  the  best  way  (although  no  way 
is  infallible)  to  tell  the  worth  of  a naval 
commander  as  yet  untried  in  war  is  to  get 
at  the  estimate  in  which  he  is  held  by  the  » 
best  fighting  men  who  would  have  to  serve 
under  him.  In  the  summer  of  1897  there 
were  in  Washington  captains  and  com- 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


191 


manders  who  later  won  honor  for  them- 
selves and  their  country  in  the  war  with 
Spain,  and  who  were  already  known  for  the 
dash  and  skill  with  which  they  handled 
their  ships,  the  excellence  of  their  gun 
practice,  the  good  discipline  of  their  crews, 
and  their  eager  desire  to  win  honorable  re- 
nown. All  these  men  were  a unit  in  their 
faith  in  the  then  Commodore  Dewey,  in 
their  desire  to  serve  under  him,  should  the 
chance  arise,  and  in  their  unquestioning  be- 
lief that  he  was  the  man  to  meet  an  emer- 
gency in  a way  that  would  do  credit  to  the 
flag. 

An  excellent  test  is  afforded  by  the  readi- 
ness which  the  man  has  shown  to  take  re- 
sponsibility in  any  emergency  in  the  past. 
One  factor  in  Admiral  Dewey’s  appointment 
— of  which  he  is  very  possibly  ignorant — 
was  the  way  in  which  he  had  taken  responsi- 
bility in  purchasing  coal  for  the  squadron 
that  was  to  have  been  used  against  Chile,  if 
war  with  Chile  had  broken  out,  at  the  time 
General  Harrison  was  President.  A service 
will  do  well  or  ill  at  the  outbreak  of  war 
very  much  in  proportion  to  the  way  it  has 
been  prepared  to  meet  the  outbreak  during 
the  preceding  months.  Now,  it  is  often  im- 
possible to  say  whether  the  symptoms  that 
seem  to  forbode  war  will  or  will  not  be  fol- 
lowed by  war.  At  one  time,  under  Presi- 


192 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


dent  Harrison,  we  seemed  as  near  war  with 
Chile  as  ever  we  seemed  to  war  with  Spain 
under  President  McKinley.  Therefore, 
when  war  threatens,  preparations  must  be 
made  in  any  event;  for  the  evil  of  what 
proves  to  be  the  needless  expenditure  of 
money  in  one  instance  is  not  to  be  weighed 
for  a moment  against  the  failure  to  prepare 
in  the  other.  But  only  a limited  number 
of  men  have  the  moral  courage  to  make 
these  preparations,  because  there  is  always 
risk  to  the  individual  making  them.  Laws 
and  regulations  must  be  stretched  when  an 
emergency  arises,  and  yet  there  is  always 
some  danger  to  the  person  who  stretches 
them ; and,  moreover,  in  time  of  sudden 
need,  some  indispensable  article  can  very 
possibly  only  be  obtained  at  an  altogether 
exorbitant  price.  If  war  comes,  and  the 
article,  whether  it  be  a cargo  of  coal,  or  a 
collier,  or  an  auxiliary  naval  vessel,  proves 
its  usefulness,  no  complaint  is  ever  made. 
But  if  the  war  does  not  come,  then  some 
small  demagogue,  some  cheap  economist,  or 
some  undersized  superior  who  is  afraid  of 
taking  the  responsibility  himself,  may  blame 
the  man  who  bought  the  article  and  say  that 
he  exceeded  his  authority;  that  he  showed 
more  zeal  than  discretion  in  not  waiting  for 
a few  days,  etc.  These  are  the  risks  which 
must  be  taken,  and  the  men  who  take  them 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


193 


should  be  singled  out  for  reward  and  for 
duty.  Admiral  Dewey’s  whole  action  in 
connection  with  the  question  of  coal- supply 
for  om’  fleet  during  the  Chilean  scare  marked 
him  as  one  of  these  men. 

No  one  who  has  not  some  knowledge  of 
the  army  and  navy  will  appreciate  how 
much  this  means.  It  is  necessary  to  have  a 
complete  system  of  checks  upon  the  actions, 
and  especially  upon  the  expenditures,  of  the 
army  and  navy ; but  the  present  system  is 
at  times  altogether  too  complete,  especially 
in  war.  The  efficiency  of  the  quartermas- 
ters and  commissary  officers  of  the  army  in 
the  war  with  Spain  was  very  seriously 
marred  by  their  perfectly  justifiable  fear 
that  the  slightest  departure  from  the  re- 
quirements of  the  red-tape  regulations  of 
peace  would  result  in  the  docking  of  their 
own  pay  by  men  more  concerned  in  enfor- 
cing the  letter  of  the  law  than  in  seeing  the 
army  clothed  and  fed.  In  the  navy,  before 
the  passage  of  the  Personnel  Bill,  a positive 
premium  was  put  on  a man’s  doing  nothing 
but  keep  out  of  trouble ; for  if  only  he  could 
avoid  a court  martial,  his  promotions  would 
take  care  of  themselves,  so  that  from  the 
selfish  standpoint  no  possible  good  could 
come  to  him  from  taking  risks,  while  they 
might  cause  him  very  great  harm.  The 
best  officers  in  the  service  recognized  the 

13 


194 


ADMIEAL  DEWEY 


menace  that  this  state  of  affairs-  meant  to 
the  service,  and  strove  to  counterbalance  it 
in  every  way.  No  small  part  of  the  good 
done  by  the  admirable  War  College,  under 
Captains  Mahan,  Taylor,  and  Goodrich,  lay 
in  their  insistence  upon  the  need  of  the 
naval  officer’s  instantly  accepting  responsi- 
bility in  any  crisis,  and  doing  what  was  best 
for  the  flag,  even  though  it  was  probable  the 
action  might  be  disavowed  by  his  immediate 
superiors,  and  though  it  might  result  in  his 
own  personal  inconvenience  and  detriment. 
This  was  taught  not  merely  as  an  abstract 
theory,  but  with  direct  reference  to  concrete 
cases ; for  instance,  with  reference  to  taking 
possession  of  Hawaii,  if  a revolution  should 
by  chance  break  out  there  during  the  pres- 
ence of  an  American  war-ship,  or  if  the  war- 
ship of  a foreign  power  attempted  to  inter- 
fere with  the  affairs  of  the  island. 

For  the  work  which  Dewey  had  to  do  will- 
ingness to  accept  responsibility  was  a prime 
requisite.  A man  afraid  to  vary  in  times  of 
emergency  from  the  regulations  laid  down 
in  time  of  peace  would  never  even  have  got 
the  coal  with  which  to  steam  to  Manila  from 
Hongkong  the  instant  the  crisis  came.  We 
were  peculiarly  fortunate  in  our  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  Mr.  Long ; but  the  best  secretary 
that  ever  held  the  navy  portfolio  could  not 
successfully  direct  operations  on  the  other 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


195 


side  of  the  world.  All  that  he  could  do  was 
to  choose  a good  man,  give  him  the  largest 
possible  liberty  of  action,  and  back  him  up 
in  every  way ; and  this  Secretary  Long  did. 
But  if  the  man  chosen  had  been  timid  about 
taking  risks,  nothing  that  could  be  done  for 
him  would  have  availed.  Such  a man  would 
not  have  disobeyed  orders.  The  danger 
would  have  been  of  precisely  the  contrary 
character.  He  would  scrupulously  have 
done  just  whatever  he  was  told  to  do,  and 
then  would  have  sat  down  and  waited  for 
further  instructions,  so  as  to  protect  himself 
if  something  happened  to  go  wrong.  An 
infinity  of  excuses  can  always  be  found  for 
non-action. 

Admiral  Dewey  was  sent  to  command 
the  fleet  on  the  Asiatic  station  prima- 
rily because  he  had  such  a record  in  the 
past  that  the  best  oflicers  in  the  navy  be- 
lieved him  to  be  peculiarly  a man  of  the 
fighting  temperament  and  fit  to  meet  emer- 
gencies, and  because  he  had  shown  his  will- 
ingness to  assume  heavy  responsibilities. 
How  amply  he  justified  his  choice  it  is  not 
necessary  to  say.  On  our  roll  of  naval 
heroes  his  name  will  stand  second  to  that  of 
Farragut  alone,  and  no  man  since  the  Civil 
War,  whether  soldier  or  civihan,  has  added 
so  much  to  the  honorable  renown  of  the  na- 
tion or  has  deserved  so  well  of  it.  For  our 


196 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


own  sakes,  and  in  particular  for  the  sake  of 
any  naval  officer  who  in  the  future  may  be 
called  upon  to  do  such  a piece  of  work  as 
Dewey  did,  let  us  keep  in  mind  the  further 
fact  that  he  could  not  have  accomplished 
his  feat  if  he  had  not  had  first-class  vessels 
and  excellently  trained  men ; if  his  war- ships 
had  not  been  so  good,  and  his  captains  and 
crews  such  thorough  masters  of  their  art.  A 
man  of  less  daring  courage  than  Dewey  would 
never  have  done  what  he  did ; but  the  cour- 
age itself  was  not  enough.  The  Spaniards, 
too,  had  courage.  What  they  lacked  was 
energy,  training,  forethought.  They  fought 
their  vessels  until  they  burned  or  sank ; but 
their  gunnery  was  so  poor  that  they  did  not 
kill  a man  in  the  American  fieet.  Even 
Dewey’s  splendid  capacity  would  not  have 
enabled  him  to  win  the  battle  of  Manila  Bay 
had  it  not  been  for  the  traditional  energy 
and  seamanship  of  our  naval  service,  so 
well  illustrated  in  his  captains,  and  the  ex- 
cellent gun  practice  of  the  crews,  the  result 
of  years  of  steady  training.  Furthermore, 
even  this  excellence  in  the  personnel  would 
not  have  availed  if  under  a succession  of 
secretaries  of  the  navy,  and  through  the 
wisdom  of  a succession  of  Congresses,  the 
material  of  the  navy  had  not  been  built  up 
as  it  actually  was. 

If  war  with  Spain  had  broken  out  fifteen 


ADMIEAL  DEWEY 


197 


years  before  it  did, — that  is,  in  the  year 
1883,  before  oiir  new  navy  was  built,— it 
would  have  been  physically  impossible  to  get 
the  results  we  actually  did  get.  At  that  time 
our  navy  consisted  of  a collection  of  rusty 
monitors  and  antiquated  wooden  ships  left 
over  from  the  Civil  War,  which  could  not 
possibly  have  been  matched  against  even  the 
navy  of  Spain.  Every  proposal  to  increase 
the  navy  was  then  violently  opposed  with 
exactly  the  same  arguments  used  nowadays 
by  the  men  who  oppose  building  up  our 
army.  The  congressmen  who  rallied  to 
the  support  of  Senator  Gorman  in  his 
refusal  to  furnish  an  adequate  army  to 
take  care  of  the  Philippines  and  meet  the 
new  national  needs,  or  who  defeated  the 
proposition  to  buy  armor-plate  for  the  new 
ships,  assumed  precisely  the  ground  that 
was  taken  by  the  men  who,  prior  to  1883, 
had  succeeded  in  preventing  the  rebuilding 
of  the  navy.  Both  alike  did  all  they  could 
to  prevent  the  upholding  of  the  national 
honor  in  times  of  emergency.  There  were 
the  usual  arguments : that  we  were  a great 
peaceful  people,  and  would  never  have  to 
go  to  war;  that  if  we  had  a navj’’  or  army 
we  should  be  tempted  to  use  it  and  there- 
fore embark  on  a career  of  military  conquest ; 
that  there  was  no  need  of  regulars  anyhow, 
because  we  could  always  raise  volunteers  to 


198 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


do  anything;  that  war  was  a barbarous 
method  of  settling  disputes,  and  too  expen- 
sive to  undertake  even  to  avoid  national 
disgrace,  and  so  on. 

But  fortunately  the  men  of  sturdy  com- 
mon sense  and  sound  patriotism  proved  vic- 
tors, and  the  new  navy  was  begun.  Its 
upbuilding  was  not  a party  matter.  The 
first  ships  were  laid  down  under  Secretary 
Chandler ; Secretary  Whitney  continued  the 
work ; Secretary  Tracy  carried  it  still  fur- 
ther; so  did  Secretary  Herbert,  and  then 
Secretary  Long.  Congress  after  Congress 
voted  the  necessary  money.  We  have 
never  had  as  many  ships  as  a nation  of  such 
size  and  such  vast  interests  really  needs; 
but  still  by  degrees  we  have  acquired  a 
small  fleet  of  battle- ships,  cruisers,  gunboats, 
and  torpedo-boats,  all  excellent  of  their 
class.  The  squadron  with  which  Dewey 
entered  Manila  Bay  included  ships  laid 
down  or  launched  under  Secretaries  Chand- 
ler, Whitney,  Tracy,  and  Herbert;  and  all 
four  of  these  secretaries,  their  naval  archi- 
tects, the  chiefs  of  bureaus,  the  young 
engineers  and  constructors,  the  outside  con- 
tractors, the  shipyard  men  like  Eoach, 
Cramp,  and  Scott,  and.  Anally  and  emphati- 
cally, the  congressmen  who  during  these 
fifteen  years  voted  the  supplies,  are  entitled 
to  take  a just  pride  in  their  share  of  the 


ADMIEAL  DEWEY 


199 


glory  of  the  achievement.  Every  man  in 
Congress  whose  vote  made  possible  the 
building  of  the  Raleigh^  the  Olympia,  the 
Detroit,  or  the  putting  aboard  them  and 
their  sister  ships  the  modern  eight-inch  or 
rapid-fire  five-inch  guns,  or  the  giving  them 
the  best  engines  and  the  means  wherewith 
to  practise  their  crews  at  the  targets— every 
such  man  has  the  right  to  tell  his  children 
that  he  did  his  part  in  securing  Dewey’s 
\uetory,  and  that,  save  for  the  action  of 
him  and  his  fellows,  it  could  not  have 
been  won.  This  is  no  less  true  of  the  man 
who  planned  the  ships  and  of  the  other  men, 
whether  in  the  government  service  or  in 
private  employment,  who  built  them,  from 
the  head  of  the  great  business  concern 
which  put  up  an  armor-plate  factory  down 
to  the  iron-worker  who  conscientiously  and 
skilfully  did  his  part  on  gun- shield  or  gun. 

So  much  for  the  men  who  furnished  the 
material  and  the  means  for  assembling  and 
practising  the  personnel.  The  same  praise 
must  be  given  the  men  who  actually  drilled 
the  personnel,  part  of  which  Dewey  used. 
If  our  ships  had  merely  been  built  and 
then  laid  up,  if  of&cers  and  crews  had  not 
been  exercised  season  after  season  in  all 
weathers  on  the  high  seas  in  handling  their 
ships  both  separately  and  in  squadron,  and 
in  practising  with  the  guns,  all  the  excellent 


200 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


material  would  have  availed  us  little.  Ex- 
actly as  it  is  of  no  use  to  give  an  army  the 
best  arms  and  equipment  if  it  is  not  also 
given  the  chance  to  practise  with  its  arms 
and  equipment,  so  the  finest  ships  and  the 
best  natural  sailors  and  fighters  are  useless 
to  a navy  if  the  most  ample  opportunity 
for  training  is  not  allowed.  Only  incessant 
practice  will  make  a good  gunner ; though, 
inasmuch  as  there  are  natural  marksmen  as 
well  as  men  who  never  can  become  good 
marksmen,  there  should  always  be  the 
widest  intelligence  displayed  in  the  choice 
of  gunners.  Not  only  is  it  impossible  for  a 
man  to  learn  how  to  handle  a ship  or  do  his 
duty  aboard  her  save  by  long  cruises  at  sea, 
but  it  is  also  impossible  for  a good  single-ship 
captain  to  be  an  efficient  unit  in  a fleet  un- 
less he  is  accustomed  to  manceuver  as  part 
of  a fleet. 

It  is  particularly  true  of  the  naval  service 
that  the  excellence  of  any  portion  of  it  in  a 
given  crisis  will  depend  mainly  upon  the 
excellence  of  the  whole  body,  and  so  the  tri- 
umph of  any  part  is  legitimately  felt  to  re- 
flect honor  upon  the  whole  and  to  have  been 
participated  in  by  every  one.  Dewey’s  cap- 
tains could  not  have  followed  him  with  the 
precision  they  displayed,  could  not  have 
shown  the  excellent  gun  practice  they  did 
show— in  short,  the  victory  would  not  have 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


201 


been  possible  bad  it  not  been  for  tbe  nn- 
wearied  training  and  practice  given  tbe 
navy  during  tbe  dozen  years  previous  by 
tbe  admirals,  tbe  captains,  and  tbe  crews 
wbo  incessantly  and  in  all  weathers  kept 
tbeir  vessels  exercised,  singly  and  in  squad- 
ron, until  tbe  men  on  tbe  bridge,  tbe  men 
in  tbe  gun-turrets,  and  tbe  men  in  tbe  en- 
gine-rooms knew  bow  to  do  tbeir  work  per- 
fectly, alone  or  together.  Every  officer  and 
man,  from  tbe  highest  to  tbe  lowest,  who 
did  bis  full  duty  in  raising  tbe  navy  to  tbe 
standard  of  efficiency  it  bad  reached  on 
May  1, 1898,  is  entitled  to  feel  some  personal 
share  in  tbe  glory  won  by  Dewey  and 
Dewey’s  men.  It  would  have  been  abso- 
lutely impossible  not  merely  to  improvise 
either  tbe  material  or  tbe  personnel  with 
which  Dewey  fought,  but  to  have  produced 
them  in  any  limited  number  of  years.  A 
thoroughly  good  navy  takes  a long  time  to 
build  up,  and  tbe  best  officer  embodies  al- 
ways tbe  traditions  of  a first-class  service. 
Ships  take  years  to  build,  crews  take  years 
before  they  become  thoroughly  expert,  while 
tbe  officers  not  only  have  to  pass  tbeir  early 
youth  in  a course  of  special  training,  but 
cannot  possibly  rise  to  supreme  excellence 
in  tbeir  profession  unless  they  make  it  tbeir 
life-work. 

We  should  therefore  keep  in  mind  that  tbe 


202 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


Kero  cannot  win  save  for  the  forethought, 
energy,  courage,  and  capacity  of  countless 
other  men.  Yet  we  must  keep  in  mind  also 
that  all  this  forethought,  energy,  courage, 
and  capacity  will  be  wasted  unless  at  the 
supreme  moment  some  man  of  the  heroic 
type  arises  capable  of  using  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage the  powers  lying  ready  to  hand. 
Whether  it  is  iSTelson,  the  greatest  of  all  ad- 
mirals, at  Abukir,  Copenhagen,  or  Trafal- 
gar ; or  Farragut,  second  only  to  Nelson,  at 
New  Orleans  or  Mobile ; or  Dewey  at  Manila 
— the  great  occasion  must  meet  with  the 
great  man,  or  the  result  will  be  at  worst  a 
failure,  at  best  an  indecisive  success.  The 
nation  must  make  ready  the  tools  and  train 
the  men  to  use  them,  but  at  the  crisis  a 
great  triumph  can  be  achieved  only  should 
some  heroic  man  appear.  Therefore  it  is 
right  and  seemly  to  pay  homage  of  deep  re- 
spect and  admiration  to  the  man  when  he 
does  appear. 

Admiral  Dewey  performed  one  of  the 
great  feats  of  all  time.  At  the  very  outset 
of  the  Spanish  war  he  struck  one  of  the  two 
decisive  blows  which  brought  the  war  to  a 
conclusion,  and  as  his  was  the  first  fight,  his 
success  exercised  an  incalculable  effect  upon 
the  whole  conflict.  He  set  the  note  of  the 
war.  He  had  carefully  prepared  for  action 
during  the  months  he  was  on  the  Asiatic 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


203 


coast.  He  had  his  plans  thoroughly  ma- 
tured, and  he  struck  the  instant  that  war 
was  declared.  There  was  no  delay,  no  hesi- 
tation. As  soon  as  news  came  that  he  was 
to  move,  his  war-steamers  turned  their  bows 
toward  Manila  Bay.  There  was  nothing  to 
show  whether  or  not  Spanish  mines  and  forts 
would  be  efficient;  but  Dewey,  cautious  as 
he  was  at  the  right  time,  had  not  a particle 
of  fear  of  taking  risks  when  the  need  arose. 
In  the  tropic  night  he  steamed  past  the  forts, 
and  then  on  over  the  mines  to  where  the 
Spanish  vessels  lay.  What  material  inferi- 
ority there  was  on  the  Spanish  side  was 
nearly  made  up  by  the  forts  and  mines. 
The  overwhelming  difference  was  moral,  not 
material.  It  was  the  difference  in  the  two 
commanders,  in  the  officers  and  crews  of  the 
two  fleets,  and  in  the  naval  service,  afloat 
and  ashore,  of  the  two  nations.  On  the  one 
side  there  had  been  thorough  preparation 
on  the  other,  none  that  was  adequate. 
It  would  be  idle  to  recapitulate  the  results. 
Steaming  in  with  cool  steadiness,  Dewey’s 
fleet  cut  the  Spaniards  to  pieces,  while  the 
Americans  were  practically  unhurt.  Then 
Dewey  drew  off  to  breakfast,  satisfied  him- 
self that  he  had  enough  ammunition,  and 
returned  to  stamp  out  what  embers  of  re- 
sistance were  still  feebly  smoldering. 

The  victory  insured  the  fall  of  the  Philip- 


204 


ADMIRAL  DEWEY 


pines,  for  Manila  snrrendei’ed  as  soon  as  our 
land  forces  arrived  and  were  in  position  to 
press  their  attack  home.  The  work,  how- 
ever, was  by  no  means  done,  and  Dewey’s 
diplomacy  and  firmness  were  given  full 
scope  for  the  year  he  remained  in  Manila 
waters,  not  only  in  dealing  with  Spaniards 
and  insurgents,  but  in  making  it  evident 
that  we  would  tolerate  no  interference  from] 
any  hostile  European  power.  It  is  not  yeti 
the  time  to  show  how  much  he  did  in  this 
last  respect.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  by  his 
firmness  he  effectually  frustrated  any  at- 
tempt to  interfere  with  our  rights,  while  by 
his  tact  he  avoided  giving  needless  offense, 
and  he  acted  in  hearty  accord  with  our  cor- 
dial well-wishers,  the  English  naval  and 
diplomatic  representatives  in  the  islands. 

Admiral  Dewey  comes  back  to  his  native 
land  having  won  the  right  to  a greeting  such 
as  has  been  given  to  no  other  man  since  the 
Civil  War. 


GRANT 


Speech  Deliveked  at  Galena,  Illinois, 
April  27,  1900 


GEANT 


IN  the  long  run  every  great  nation  in- 
stinctively recognizes  the  men  who  pecu- 
liarly and  preeminently  represent  its  own 
type  of  greatness.  Here  in  our  country  we 
have  had  many  public  men  of  high  rank — 
soldiers,  orators,  constructive  statesmen, 
and  popular  leaders.  We  have  even  had 
great  philosophers  who  were  also  leaders  of 
popular  thought.  Each  one  of  these  men 
has  had  his  own  group  of  devoted  followers, 
and  some  of  them  have  at  times  swayed  the 
nation  with  a power  such  as  the  foremost 
of  all  hardly  wielded.  Yet  as  the  genera- 
tions slip  away,  as  the  dust  of  conflict  set- 
tles, and  as  through  the  clearing  air  we  look 
back  with  keener  wisdom  into  the  nation’s 
past,  mightiest  among  the  mighty  dead 
loom  the  three  great  figures  of  Washing- 
ton, Lincoln,  and  Grant.  There  are  great 
men  also  in  the  second  rank;  for  in  any 
gallery  of  merely  national  heroes  Franklin 
and  Hamilton,  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  would 
surely  have  their  place.  But  these  three 

207 


208 


GRANT 


greatest  men  have  taken  their  place  among 
the  great  men  of  all  nations,  the  great  men 
of  all  time.  They  stood  supreme  in  the  two 
great  crises  of  our  history,  on  the  two  great 
occasions  when  we  stood  in  the  van  of  all 
humanity  and  struck  the  most  effective 
blows  that  have  ever  been  struck  for  the 
cause  of  human  freedom  under  the  law,  for 
that  spirit  of  orderly  liberty  which  must 
stand  at  the  base  of  every  wise  movement 
to  secure  to  each  man  his  rights,  and  to 
guard  each  from  being  wronged  by  his 
fellows. 

Washington  fought  in  the  earlier  struggle, 
and  it  was  his  good  fortune  to  win  the  high- 
est renown  alike  as  soldier  and  statesman. 
In  the  second  and  even  greater  struggle  the 
deeds  of  Lincoln  the  statesman  were  made 
good  by  those  of  Grant  the  soldier,  and 
later  Grant  himself  took  up  the  work  that 
dropped  from  Lincoln’s  tired  hands  when 
the  assassin’s  bullet  went  home,  and  the 
sad,  patient,  kindly  eyes  were  closed  forever. 

It  was  no  mere  accident  that  made  our 
three  mightiest  men,  two  of  them  soldiers, 
and  one  the  great  war  President.  It  is  only 
through  work  and  strife  that  either  nation 
or  individual  moves  on  to  greatness.  The 
great  man  is  always  the  man  of  mighty 
effort,  and  usually  the  man  whom  grinding 
need  has  trained  to  mighty  effort.  Eest 


GRANT 


209 


and  peace  are  good  things,  are  great  bless- 
ings, but  only  if  they  come  honorably;  and 
it  is  those  who  fearlessly  turn  away  from 
them,  when  they  have  not  been  earned,  who 
in  the  long  run  deserve  best  of  their  coun- 
try. In  the  sweat  of  our  brows  do  we 
eat  bread,  and  though  the  sweat  is  bitter 
at  times,  yet  it  is  far  more  bitter  to  eat 
the  bread  that  is  unearned,  unwon,  unde- 
served. America  must  nerve  herself  for 
labor  and  peril.  The  men  who  have  made 
our  national  greatness  are  those  who  faced 
danger  and  overcame  it,  who  met  diffi- 
culties and  surmounted  them,  not  those 
whose  lines  were  cast  in  such  pleasant  places 
that  toil  and  dread  were  ever  far  from  them. 

Neither  was  it  an  accident  that  our  three 
leaders  were  men  who,  while  they  did  not 
shrink  from  war,  were  nevertheless  heartily 
men  of  peace.  The  man  who  will  not  fight  to 
avert  or  undo  wrong  is  but  a poor  creature ; 
but,  after  all,  he  is  less  dangerous  than  the 
man  who  fights  on  the  side  of  wrong.  Again 
and  again  in  a nation’s  history  the  time  may, 
and  indeed  sometimes  must,  come  when  the 
nation’s  highest  duty  is  war.  But  peace  must 
be  the  normal  condition,  or  the  nation  will 
come  to  a bloody  doom.  Twice  in  great  crises, 
in  1776  and  1861,  and  twice  in  lesser  crises,  in 
1812  and  1898,  the  nation  was  called  to  arms 

in  the  name  of  all  that  makes  the  words 
u 


210 


GRANT 


“honoi',”  “freedom,”  and  “justice”  other  than 
empty  sounds.  On  each  occasion  the  net 
result  of  the  war  was  greatly  for  the  benefit 
of  mankind.  But  on  each  occasion  this  net 
result  was  of  benefit  only  because  after  the 
war  came  peace,  came  justice  and  order  and 
liberty.  If  the  Eevolution  had  been  fol- 
lowed by  bloody  anarchy,  if  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  had  not  been  supplemented 
by  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  if  the 
freedom  won  by  the  sword  of  Washington 
had  not  been  supplemented  by  the  stable 
and  orderly  government  which  Washington 
was  instrumental  in  founding,  then  we 
should  have  but  added  to  the  chaos  of  the 
world,  and  our  victories  would  have  told 
against  and  not  for  the  betterment  of  man- 
kind. So  it  was  with  the  Civil  War.  If  the 
four  iron  years  had  not  been  followed  by 
peace,  they  would  not  have  been  justified. 
If  the  great  silent  soldier,  the  Hammer  of 
the  North,  had  struck  the  shackles  off  the 
slave  only,  as  so  many  conquerors  in  civil 
strife  before  him  had  done,  to  rivet  them 
around  the  wrists  of  freemen,  then  the  war 
would  have  been  fought  in  vain,  and  worse 
than  in  vain.  If  the  Union,  which  so  many 
men  shed  their  blood  to  restore,  were  not 
now  a union  in  fact,  then  the  precious  blood 
would  have  been  wasted.  But  it  was  not 
wasted;  for  the  work  of  peace  has  made 


GRANT 


211 


good  the  work  of  war,  and  North  and  South, 
East  and  West,  we  are  now  one  people  in 
fact  as  well  as  in  name;  one  in  purpose,  in 
fellow-feeling,  and  in  high  resolve,  as  we 
stand  to  greet  the  new  century,  and,  high 
of  heart,  to  face  the  mighty  tasks  which  the 
coming  years  will  surely  bring. 

Grant  and  his  fellow- soldiers  who  fought 
through  the  war,  and  his  fellow-statesmen 
who  completed  the  work  partly  done  by  the 
soldiers,  not  only  left  us  the  heritage  of  a 
reunited  country  and  of  a land  from  which 
slavery  had  been  banished,  but  left  us  what 
was  quite  as  important,  the  great  memory 
of  their  great  deeds,  to  serve  forever  as  an 
example  and  an  inspiration,  to  spur  us  on 
so  that  we  may  not  fall  below  the  level 
reached  by  our  fathers.  The  rough,  strong 
poet  of  democracy  has  sung  of  Grant  as 
“ the  man  of  mighty  days,  and  equal  to  the 
days.”  The  days  are  less  mighty  now,  and 
that  is  all  the  more  reason  why  we  should 
show  ourselves  equal  to  them.  We  meet 
here  to  pay  glad  homage  to  the  memory  of 
our  illustrious  dead;  but  let  us  keep  ever 
clear  before  our  minds  the  fact  that  mere  lip- 
loyalty  is  no  loyalty  at  all,  and  that  the  only 
homage  that  counts  is  the  homage  of  deeds, 
not  of  words.  It  is  but  an  idle  waste  of 
time  to  celebrate  the  memory  of  the  dead 
unless  we,  the  living,  in  our  lives  strive  to 


212 


GEANT 


show  ourselves  not  unworthy  of  them.  If 
the  careers  of  Washington  and  Grant  are 
not  vital  and  full  of  meaning  to  us,  if  they 
are  merely  part  of  the  storied  past,  and  stir 
us  to  no  eager  emulation  in  the  ceaseless, 
endless  war  for  right  against  wrong,  then 
the  root  of  right  thinking  is  not  in  us ; and 
where  we  do  not  think  right  we  cannot  act 
right. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  in  this  address  to 
sketch,  in  even  the  briefest  manner,  the  life 
and  deeds  of  Grant.  It  is  not  even  my  pur- 
pose to  touch  on  the  points  where  his  influ- 
ence has  told  so  tremendously  in  the  making 
of  our  history.  It  is  part  of  the  man’s 
greatness  that  now  we  can  use  his  career 
purely  for  illustration.  We  can  take  for 
granted  the  fact  that  each  American  who 
knows  the  history  of  the  country  must  know 
the  history  of  this  man,  at  least  in  its  broad 
outline;  and  that  we  no  more  need  to  ex- 
plain Vicksburg  and  Appomattox  than  we 
need  to  explain  Yorktown.  I shall  ask  at- 
tention, not  to  Grant’s  life,  but  to  the  les- 
sons taught  by  that  life  as  we  of  to-day 
should  learn  them. 

Foremost  of  all  is  the  lesson  of  tenacity,  of 
stubborn  fixity  of  purpose.  In  the  Union 
armies  there  were  generals  as  brilliant  as 
Grant,  but  none  with  his  iron  determination. 
This  quality  he  showed  as  President  no  less 


GEANT 


213 


than  as  general.  He  was  no  more  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  a hostile  majority  in  Congress 
into  abandoning  his  attitude  in  favor  of  a 
sound  and  stable  currency  than  he  was  to 
be  influenced  by  check  or  repulse  into  re- 
leasing his  grip  on  beleaguered  Richmond. 
It  is  this  element  of  unshakable  strength  to 
which  we  are  apt  specially  to  refer  when 
we  praise  a man  in  the  simplest  and  most 
effective  way,  by  praising  him  as  a man.  It 
is  the  one  quality  which  we  can  least  afford 
to  lose.  It  is  the  only  quality  the  lack  of 
which  is  as  unpardonable  in  the  nation  as 
in  the  man.  It  is  the  antithesis  of  levity, 
fickleness,  volatility,  of  undue  exaltation,  of 
undue  depression,  of  hysteria  and  neuroticism 
in  all  their  myriad  forms.  The  lesson  of 
unyielding,  unflinching,  unfaltering  perse- 
verance in  the  course  upon  which  the  nation 
has  entered  is  one  very  necessary  for  a gen- 
eration whose  preachers  sometimes  dwell 
overmuch  on  the  policies  of  the  moment. 
There  are  not  a few  public  men,  not  a few 
men  who  try  to  mold  opinion  within  Con- 
gress and  without,  on  the  stump  and  in  the 
daily  press,  who  seem  to  aim  at  instability, 
who  pander  to  and  thereby  increase  the  thirst 
for  overstatement  of  each  situation  as  it 
arises,  whose  effort  is,  accordingly,  to  make 
the  people  move  in  zigzags  instead  of  in  a 
straight  line.  We  all  saw  this  in  the  Span- 


214 


GRANT 


ish  war,  when  the  very  men  who  at  one  time 
branded  as  traitors  everybody  who  said 
there  was  anything  wrong  in  the  army  at 
another  time  branded  as  traitors  everybody 
who  said  there  was  anything  right.  Of 
course  such  an  attitude  is  as  unhealthy  on 
one  side  as  on  the  other,  and  it  is  equally 
destructive  of  any  effort  to  do  away  with 
abuse. 

Hysterics  of  this  kind  may  have  all  the 
results  of  extreme  timidity.  A nation  that 
has  not  the  power  of  endurance,  the  power 
of  dogged  insistence  on  a determined  policy, 
come  weal  or  woe,  has  lost  one  chief  element 
of  greatness.  The  people  who  wish  to 
abandon  the  Philippines  because  we  have 
had  heavy  skirmishing  out  there,  or  who 
think  that  our  rule  is  a failure  whenever 
they  discover  some  sporadic  upgrowth  of  evil, 
would  do  well  to  remember  the  two  long 
years  of  disaster  this  nation  suffered  before 
the  July  morning  when  the  news  was  flashed 
to  the  waiting  millions  that  Vicksburg  had 
fallen  in  the  West  and  that  in  the  East  the 
splendid  soldiery  of  Lee  had  recoiled  at  last 
from  the  low  hills  of  Gettysburg.  Even 
after  this  nearly  two  years  more  were  to 
pass  before  the  end  came  at  Appomattox. 
Throughout  this  time  the  cry  of  the  prophets 
of  disaster  never  ceased.  The  peace-at-any- 
price  men  never  wearied  of  declaiming  against 


GRANT 


215 


the  war,  of  describing  the  evils  of  conquest 
and  subjugation  as  worse  than  any  possible 
benefits  that  could  result  therefrom.  The 
hysterical  minority  passed  alternately  from 
unreasoning  confidence  to  unreasoning  de- 
spair; and  at  times  they  even  infected  for 
the  moment  many  of  their  sober,  steady 
countrymen.  Eighteen  months  after  the 
war  began  the  State  and  congressional  elec- 
tions went  heavily  against  the  war  party, 
and  two  years  later  the  opposition  party 
actually  waged  the  Presidential  campaign 
on  the  issue  that  the  war  was  a failure. 
Meanwhile  there  was  plenty  of  blundering 
at  the  front,  plenty  of  mistakes  at  Washing- 
ton. The  country  was  saved  by  the  fact 
that  our  people,  as  a whole,  were  steadfast 
and  unshaken.  Both  at  Washington  and  at 
the  front  the  leaders  were  men  of  undaunted 
resolution,  who  would  not  abandon  the  pol- 
icy to  which  the  nation  was  definitely  com- 
mitted, who  regarded  disaster  as  merely  a 
spur  to  fresh  effort,  who  saw  in  each 
blunder  merely  something  to  be  retrieved, 
and  not  a reason  for  abandoning  the  long- 
determined  course.  Above  all,  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  possessed  a tough  and 
stubborn  fiber  of  character. 

There  was  then,  as  always,  ample  room 
for  criticism,  and  there  was  every  reason 
why  the  mistakes  should  be  corrected.  But 


216 


GRANT 


in  the  long  ran  our  gratitude  was  due  pri- 
marily, not  to  the  critics,  not  to  the  fault- 
finders, but  to  the  men  who  actually  did  the 
work;  not  to  the  men  of  negative  policy, 
but  to  those  who  struggled  toward  the  given 
goal.  Merciful  oblivion  has  swallowed  up  the 
names  of  those  who  railed  at  the  men  who 
were  saving  the  Union,  while  it  has  given 
us  the  memory  of  these  same  men  as  a heri- 
tage of  honor  forever ; and  brightest  among 
their  names  flame  those  of  Lincoln  and 
Grant,  the  steadfast,  the  unswerving,  the 
enduring,  the  finally  triumphant. 

Grant’s  supreme  virtue  as  a soldier  was 
his  doggedness,  the  quality  which  found  ex- 
pression in  his  famous  phrases  of  “uncon- 
ditional surrender”  and  “fighting  it  out  on 
this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer.”  He  was  a 
master  of  strategy  and  tactics,  but  he  was 
also  a master  of  hard  hitting,  of  that  “ con- 
tinuous hammering”  which  finally  broke 
through  even  Lee’s  guard.  While  an  armed 
foe  was  in  the  field,  it  never  occurred  to 
Grant  that  any  question  could  be  so  impor- 
tant as  his  overthrow.  He  felt  nothing  but 
impatient  contempt  for  the  weak  souls  who 
wished  to  hold  parley  with  the  enemy  while 
that  enemy  was  still  capable  of  resistance. 

There  is  a fine  lesson  in  this  to  the  people 
who  have  been  asking  us  to  invite  the  cer- 
tain destruction  of  our  power  in  the  Philip- 


GRANT 


217 


pines,  and  therefore  the  certain  destruction 
of  the  islands  themselves,  by  putting  any 
concession  on  onr  part  ahead  of  the  duty  of 
reducing  the  islands  to  quiet  at  all  costs  and 
of  stamping  out  the  last  embers  of  armed 
resistance.  At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  the 
only  way  to  secure  peace  was  to  fight  for  it, 
and  it  would  have  been  a crime  against 
humanity  to  have  stopped  fighting  before 
peace  was  conquered.  So  in  the  far  less 
important,  but  still  very  important,  crisis 
which  confronts  us  to-day,  it  would  be  a 
crime  against  humanity  if,  whether  from 
weakness  or  from  mistaken  sentimentalism, 
we  failed  to  perceive  that  in  the  Philippines 
the  all-important  duty  is  to  restore  order; 
because  peace,  and  the  gradually  increasing 
measure  of  self-government  for  the  islands 
which  will  follow  peace,  can  only  come  when 
armed  resistance  has  completely  vanished. 

Grant  was  no  brawler,  no  lover  of  fighting 
for  fighting’s  sake.  He  was  a plain,  quiet 
man,  not  seeking  for  glory ; but  a man  who, 
when  aroused,  was  always  in  deadly  earnest, 
and  who  never  shrank  from  duty.  He  was 
slow  to  strike,  but  he  never  struck  softly. 
He  was  not  in  the  least  of  the  type  which 
gets  up  mass-meetings,  makes  inflammatory 
speeches  or  passes  inflammatory  resolutions, 
and  then  permits  over-forcible  talk  to  be 
followed  by  over-feeble  action.  His  promise 


218 


GEANT 


squared  with  his  performance.  His  deeds 
made  good  his  words.  He  did  not  denounce 
an  evil  in  strained  and  hyperbolic  language ; 
but  when  he  did  denounce  it,  he  strove  to 
make  his  denunciation  effective  by  his  ac- 
tion. He  did  not  plunge  lightly  into  war, 
but  once  in,  he  saw  the  war  through,  and 
when  it  was  over,  it  was  over  entirely.  Un- 
sparing in  battle,  he  was  very  merciful  in 
Auctory.  There  was  no  let-up  in  his  grim 
attack,  his  grim  pursuit,  until  the  last  body 
of  armed  foes  surrendered.  But  that  feat 
once  accomplished,  his  first  thought  was  for 
the  valiant  defeated ; to  let  them  take  back 
their  horses  to  their  little  homes  because 
they  would  need  them  to  work  on  their 
farms.  Grant,  the  champion  whose  sword 
was  sharpest  in  the  great  fight  for  liberty, 
was  no  less  sternly  insistent  upon  the  need 
of  order  and  of  obedience  to  law.  No 
stouter  foe  of  anarchy  in  every  form  ever 
lived  within  our  borders.  The  man  who 
more  than  any  other,  save  Lincoln,  had 
changed  us  into  a nation  whose  citizens 
were  all  freemen,  realized  entirely  that  these 
freemen  would  remain  free  only  while  they 
kept  mastery  over  their  own  evil  passions. 
He  saw  that  lawlessness  in  all  its  forms  was 
the  handmaiden  of  tyranny.  No  nation 
ever  yet  retained  its  freedom  for  any  length 
of  time  after  losing  its  respect  for  the  law, 


GRANT 


219 


after  losing  the  law-abiding  spirit,  the  spirit 
that  really  makes  orderly  liberty. 

Grant,  in  short,  stood  for  the  great  ele- 
mentary virtues,  for  justice,  for  freedom, 
for  order,  for  unyielding  resolution,  for 
manliness  in  its  broadest  and  highest  sense. 
His  greatness  was  not  so  much  greatness  of 
intellect  as  greatness  of  character,  including 
in  the  word  “ character  ” all  the  strong,  virile 
virtues.  It  is  character  that  counts  in  a na-‘ 
tion  as  in  a man.  It  is  a good  thing  to 
have  a keen,  fine  intellectual  development 
in  a nation,  to  produce  orators,  artists,  suc- 
cessful business  men ; but  it  is  an  infinitely 
greater  thing  to  have  those  solid  qualities 
which  we  group  together  under  the  name  of 
character— sobriety,  steadfastness,  the  sense 
of  obligation  toward  one’s  neighbor  and 
one’s  God,  hard  common  sense,  and,  com- 
bined with  it,  the  lift  of  generous  enthusiasm 
toward  whatever  is  right.  These  are  the 
qualities  which  go  to  make  up  true  national 
greatness,  and  these  were  the  qualities  which 
Grant  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree. 

We  have  come  here,  then,  to  realize  what 
the  mighty  dead  did  for  the  nation,  what 
the  dead  did  for  us  who  ar6  now  living. 
Let  us  in  return  try  to  shape  our  deeds  so 
that  the  America  of  the  future  shall  justify 
by  her  career  the  lives  of  the  great  men  of 
her  past.  Every  man  who  does  his  duty  as 


220 


GRANT 


a soldier,  as  a statesman,  or  as  a private  citi- 
zen is  paying  to  Grant’s  memory  the  kind  of 
homage  that  is  best  worth  paying.  We 
have  difficulties  and  dangers  enough  in  the 
present,  and  it  is  the  way  we  face  them 
which  is  to  determine  whether  or  not  we  are 
fit  descendants  of  the  men  of  the  mighty 
past.  We  must  not  flinch  from  our  duties 
abroad  merely  because  we  have  even  more 
important  duties  at  home.  That  these 
home  duties  are  the  most  important  of  all 
every  thinking  man  will  freely  acknowledge. 
We  must  do  our  duty  to  ourselves  and  our 
brethren  in  the  complex  social  life  of  the 
time.  We  must  possess  the  spirit  of  broad 
humanity,  deep  charity,  and  loving-kindness 
for  our  fellow-men,  and  must  remember,  at 
the  same  time,  that  this  spirit  is  really  the 
absolute  antithesis  of  mere  sentimentalism, 
of  soup-kitchen,  pauperizing  philanthropy, 
and  of  legislation  which  is  inspired  either 
by  foolish  mock  benevolence  or  by  class 
greed  or  class  hate.  We  need  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  the  spirit  of  justice  and  of  the 
spirit  which  recognizes  in  work  and  not 
ease  the  proper  end  of  effort. 

Of  course  the  all-important  thing  to  keep 
in  mind  is  that  if  we  have  not  both  strength 
and  virtue  we  shall  fail.  Indeed,  in  the  old 
acceptation  of  the  word,  virtue  included 
strength  and  courage,  for  the  clear-sighted 


GRANT 


221 


men  at  the  dawn  of  our  era  knew  that  the 
passive  virtues  could  not  by  themselves 
avail,  that  wisdom  without  courage  would 
sink  into  mere  cunning,  and  courage  with- 
out morality  into  ruthless,  lawless,  self- 
destructive ferocity.  The  iron  Eoman  made 
himseK  lord  of  the  world  because  to  the 
courage  of  the  barbarian  he  opposed  a cour- 
age as  fierce  and  an  infinitely  keener  mind ; 
while  his  civilized  rivals,  the  keen-witted 
Greek  and  Carthaginian,  though  of  even 
finer  intellect,  had  let  corruption  eat  into 
their  brilliant  civilizations  until  their 
strength  had  been  corroded  as  if  by  acid. 
In  short,  the  Eoman  had  character  as  well 
as  masterful  genius,  and  when  pitted  against 
peoples  either  of  less  genius  or  of  less  char- 
acter, these  peoples  went  down. 

As  the  ages  roll  by,  the  eternal  problem 
forever  fronting  each  man  and  each  race 
forever  shifts  its  outward  shape,  and  yet  at 
the  bottom  it  is  always  the  same.  There 
are  dangers  of  peace  and  dangers  of  war; 
dangers  of  excess  in  militarism  and  of  ex- 
cess by  the  avoidance  of  duty  that  implies 
militarism;  dangers  of  slow  dry-rot,  and 
dangers  which  become  acute  only  in  great 
crises.  When  these  crises  come,  the  nation 
will  triumph  or  sink  accordingly  as  it  pro- 
duces or  fails  to  produce  statesmen  like  Lin- 
coln and  soldiers  like  Grant,  and  accordingly 


222 


GEANT 


as  it  does  or  does  not  back  them  in  tbeir 
efforts.  We  do  not  need  men  of  unsteady 
brilliancy  or  erratic  power — unbalanced 
men.  The  men  we  need  are  the  men  of 
strong,  earnest,  solid  character — the  men 
who  possess  the  homely  virtues,  and  who  to 
these  virtues  add  rugged  courage,  rugged 
honesty,  and  high  resolve.  Grant,  with  his 
self-poise,  his  self-command,  his  self-mas- 
tery ; Grant,  who  loved  peace  and  did  not  fear 
war,  who  would  not  draw  the  sword  if  he  could 
honorably  keep  it  sheathed,  but  who,  when 
once  he  had  drawn  it,  would  not  return  it  to 
the  sheath  until  the  weary  years  had  brought 
the  blood-won  victory;  Grant,  who  had  no 
thought  after  the  fight  was  won  save  of 
leading  the  life  led  by  other  Americans,  and 
who  aspired  to  the  Presidency  only  as  Zach- 
ary Taylor  or  Andrew  Jackson  had  aspired 
to  it — Grant  was  of  a type  upon  which  the 
men  of  to-day  can  well  afford  to  model  them- 
selves. 

As  I have  already  said,  our  first  duty,  our 
most  important  work,  is  setting  our  own 
house  in  order.  We  must  be  true  to  our- 
selves, or  else,  in  the  long  run,  we  shall  be 
false  to  all  others.  The  republic  cannot 
stand  if  honesty  and  decency  do  not  prevail 
alike  in  public  and  private  life ; if  we  do  not 
set  ourselves  seriously  at  work  to  solve  the 
tremendous  social  problems  forced  upon  us 


GEANT 


223 


by  tbe  far-sweeping  industrial  changes  of 
the  last  two  generations. 

But  in  considering  the  life  of  Grant  it  is 
peculiarly  appropriate  to  remember  that,  be- 
sides the  regeneration  in  political  and  social 
life  within  our  own  borders,  we  must  also 
face  what  has  come  upon  us  from  without. 
No  friendliness  with  other  nations,  no  good 
will  for  them  or  by  them,  can  take  the  place 
of  national  self-reliance.  No  alliance,  no  in- 
offensive conduct  on  our  part,  would  supply, 
in  time  of  n6ed,  the  failure  in  ability  to  hold 
our  own  with  the  strong  hand.  We  must 
work  out  our  own  destiny  by  our  own 
I strength.  A vigorous  young  nation  like 
1 ours  does  not  always  stand  still.  Now  and 
' then  there  comes  a time  when  it  is  sure 
either  to  shrink  or  to  expand.  Grant  saw 
to  it  that  we  did  not  shrink,  and  therefore 
we  had  to  expand  when  the  inevitable  mo- 
ment came. 

Great  duties  face  us  in  the  islands  where 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  now  float  in  place  of 
the  arrogant  flag  of  Spain.  As  we  perform 
those  duties  well  or  ill,  so  will  we,  in  large 
part,  determine  our  right  to  a place  among 
the  great  nations  of  the  earth.  We  have 
got  to  meet  them  in  the  very  spirit  of 
Grant.  If  we  are  frightened  at  the  task, 
above  all,  if  we  are  cowed  or  disheartened 
by  any  check,  or  by  the  clamor  of  the  sensa- 


224: 


GRANT 


tion-monger,  we  shall  show  ourselves  weak- 
lings unfit  to  invoke  the  memories  of  the 
stalwart  men  who  fought  to  a finish  the  great 
Civil  War.  If  we  do  not  rule  wisely,  and  if 
our  rule  is  not  in  the  interest  of  the  peoples 
who  have  come  under  our  guardianship,  then 
we  had  best  never  to  have  begun  the  effort 
at  all.  As  a nation  we  shall  have  to  choose 
our  representatives  in  these  islands  as  care- 
fully as  Grant  chose  the  generals  who  were 
to  serve  at  the  vital  points  under  him.  For- 
tunately, so  far  the  choice  has  been  most 
wise.  No  nation  has  ever  sent  a better  man 
than  we  sent  to  Cuba  when  President  Mc- 
Kinley appointed  as  governor-general  of 
that  island  Leonard  Wood;  and  now,  in 
sending  Judge  Taft  at  the  head  of  the  com- 
mission to  the  Philippines,  the  President  has 
again  chosen  the  very  best  man  to  be  found  in 
aU  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  in  view. 
I Part  of  Grant’s  great  strength  lay  in  the 
/ fact  that  he  faced  facts  as  they  were,  and 
not  as  he  wished  they  might  be.  He  was 
not  originally  an  abolitionist,  and  he  proba- 
bly could  not  originally  have  defined  his 
views  as  to  State  sovereignty ; but  when  the 
Civil  War  was  on,  he  saw  that  the  only 
thing  to  do  was  to  fight  it  to  a finish  and 
establish  by  force  of  arms  the  constitutional 
right  to  put  down  rebellion.  It  is  just  the 
same  thing  nowadays  with  expansion.  It 


GRANT 


225 


has  come,  and  it  has  come  to  stay,  whether 
we  wish  it  or  not.  Certain  duties  have  fallen 
to  us  as  a legacy  of  the  war  with  Spain, 
and  we  cannot  avoid  performing  them.  All 
we  can  decide  is  whether  we  will  perform 
them  well  or  ill.  We  cannot  leave  the  Phil- 
ippines. We  have  got  to  stay  there,  estab- 
lish order,  and  then  give  the  inhabitants  as 
much  self-government  as  they  show  they 
can  use  to  advantage.  We  cannot  run  away 
if  we  would.  We  have  got  to  see  the  work 
through,  because  we  are  not  a nation  of 
weaklings.  We  are  strong  men,  and  we  in- 
tend to  do  our  duty. 

To  do  our  duty — that  is  the  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  the  whole  matter.  We  are  not 
trying  to  win  glory.  We  are  not  trying  to 
do  anything  especially  brilliant  or  unusual. 
We  are  setting  ourselves  vigorously  at  each 
task  as  the  task  arises,  and  we  are  trying  to 
face  each  difficulty  as  Grant  faced  innumera- 
ble and  infinitely  greater  difficulties.  The 
sure  way  to  succeed  is  to  set  about  our 
work  in  the  spirit  that  marked  the  great 
soldier  whose  life  we  this  day  celebrate : the 
spirit  of  devotion  to  duty,  of  determination 
to  deal  fairly,  justly,  and  fearlessly  with  all 
men,  and  of  iron  resolution  never  to  aban- 
don any  task  once  begun  until  it  has  been 
brought  to  a successful  and  triumphant 
conclusion. 

15 


' ‘ nfr-  -Iti  jir  i 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


Speech  at  the  Formal  Opening  of  the  Pan-American 
^Exposition,  Buffalo,  Mat  20,  1901 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


9 

TO-DAY  we  formally  open  tills  great 
exposition  by  the  shores  of  the  mighty 
inland  seas  of  the  North,  where  all  the  peo- 
ples of  the  western  hemisphere  have  joined 
to  show  what  they  have  done  in  art,  science, 
and  industrial  invention,  what  they  have 
been  able  to  accomplish  with  their  mani- 
fold resources  and  their  infinitely  varied 
individual  and  national  qualities.  Such  an 
exposition,  held  at  the  opening  of  this  new 
century,  inevitably  suggests  two  trains  of 
thought.  It  should  make  us  think  seriously 
and  solemnly  of  our  several  duties  to  one 
another  as  citizens  of  the  different  nations 
of  this  western  hemisphere,  and  also  of  our 
duties  each  to  the  nation  to  which  he  per- 
sonally belongs. 

The  century  upon  which  we  have  just  en- 
tered must  inevitably  be  one  of  tremendous 
triumph  or  of  tremendous  failure  for  the 
whole  human  race,  because,  to  an  infinitely 
greater  extent  than  ever  before,  humanity 
is  knit  together  in  all  its  parts,  for  weal  or 

229 


230 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


woe.  All  about  us  there  are  innumerable 
tendencies  that  tell  for  good,  and  innumera- 
ble tendencies  that  tell  for  evil.  It  is,  of 
course,  a mere  truism  to  say  that  our  own 
acts  must  determine  which  set  of  tendencies 
shall  overcome  the  other.  In  order  to  act 
wisely  we  must  first  see  clearly.  There  is 
no  place  among  us  for  the  mere  pessimist ; 
no  man  who  looks  at  life  with  a vision  that 
sees  all  things  black  or  gray  can  do  aught 
healthful  in  molding  the  destiny  of  a mighty 
and  vigorous  people.  But  there  is  just 
as  little  use  for  the  foolish  optimist  who 
refuses  to  face  the  many  and  real  evils  that 
exist,  and  who  fails  to  see  that  the  only 
way  to  insure  the  triumph  of  righteous- 
ness in  the  future  is  to  war  against  all  that 
is  base,  weak,  and  unlovely  in  the  present. 

There  are  certain  things  so  obvious  as 
to  seem  commonplace,  which,  nevertheless, 
must  be  kept  constantly  before  us  if  we  are 
to  preserve  our  just  sense  of  proportion. 
This  twentieth  century  is  big  with  the  fate 
of  the  nations  of  mankind,  because  the  fate 
of  each  is  now  interwoven  with  the  fate  of 
all  to  a degree  never  even  approached  in 
any  previous  stage  of  history.  No  better 
proof  could  be  given  than  by  this  very 
exposition.  A century  ago  no  such  exposi- 
tion could  have  even  been  thought  of.  The 
larger  part  of  the  territory  represented  here 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


231 


to-day  by  so  many  free  nations  was  not 
even  mapped,  and  very  much  of  it  was 
unknown  to  the  hardiest  explorer.  The 
influence  of  America  upon  Old  World  affairs 
was  imponderable.  World  politics  still 
meant  European  politics. 

All  that  is  now  changed,  not  merely  by 
what  has  happened  here  in  America,  but 
by  what  has  happened  elsewhere.  It  is  not 
necessary  for  us  here  to  consider  the  giant 
changes  which  have  come  elsewhere  in  the 
globe ; to  treat  of  the  rise  in  the  South  Seas 
of  the  great  free  commonwealths  of  Aus- 
tralia and  New  Zealand;  of  the  way  in 
which  Japan  has  been  rejuvenated  and  has 
advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds  to  a position 
among  the  leading  civilized  powers ; of  the 
problems,  affecting  the  major  portion  of  man- 
kind, which  call  imperiously  for  solution  in 
parts  of  the  Old  World  which,  a century  ago, 
were  barely  known  to  Europe,  even  by  rumor. 
Our  present  concern  is  not  with  the  Old 
World,  but  with  our  own  western  hemi- 
sphere, America.  We  meet  to-day,  repre- 
senting the  people  of  this  continent,  from 
the  Dominion  of  Canada  in  the  north,  to 
Chile  and  the  Argentine  in  the  south;  rep- 
resenting peoples  who  have  traveled  far  and 
fast  in  the  last  century,  because  in  them  has 
been  practically  shown  that  it  is  the  spirit 
of  adventure  which  is  the  maker  of  com- 


232 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


monwealtlis ; peoples  who  are  learning  and 
striving  to  put  in  practice  the  vital  truth 
that  freedom  is  the  necessary  first  step, 
but  only  the  first  step,  in  successful  free 
government. 

During  the  last  century  we  have  on  the 
whole  made  long  strides  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, but  we  have  very  much  yet  to  learn. 
We  all  look  forward  to  the  day  when  there 
shall  be  a nearer  approximation  than  there 
has  ever  yet  been  to  the  brotherhood  of 
man  and  the  peace  of  the  world.  More 
and  more  we  are  learning  that  to  love  one’s 
country  above  all  others  is  in  no  way  in- 
compatible with  respecting  and  wishing 
well  to  all  others,  and  that,  as  between  man 
and  man,  so  between  nation  and  nation, 
there  should  live  the  great  law  of  right. 
These  are  the  goals  toward  which  we 
strive;  and  let  us  at  least  earnestly  en- 
deavor to  realize  them  here  on  this  con- 
tinent. From  Hudson  Bay  to  the  Straits 
of  Magellan,  we,  the  men  of  the  two  Amer- 
icas, have  been  conquering  the  wilderness, 
carving  it  into  state  and  province,  and 
seeking  to  build  up  in  state  and  province 
governments  which  shall  combine  indus- 
trial prosperity  and  moral  well-being.  Let 
us  ever  most  vividly  remember  the  falsity 
of  the  belief  that  any  one  of  us  is  to  be  per- 
manently benefited  by  the  hurt  of  another. 


THE  TWO  AMEEICAS 


233 


Let  us  strive  to  have  our  public  men  treat 
as  axiomatic  the  truth  that  it  is  for  the 
interest  of  every  commonwealth  in  the 
western  hemisphere  to  see  every  other  com- 
monwealth grow  in  riches  and  in  happiness, 
in  material  wealth  and  in  the  sober,  strong, 
self-respecting  manliness,  without  which 
material  wealth  avails  so  little. 

To-day  on  behalf  of  the  United  States  I 
welcome  you  here — you,  our  brothers  of  the 
North,  and  you,  our  brothers  of  the  South ; 
we  wish  you  well ; we  wish  you  all  pros- 
perity ; and  we  say  to  you  that  we  earnestly 
hope  for  your  well-being,  not  only  for  your 
own  sakes,  but  also  for  our  own,  for  it  is  a 
benefit  to  each  of  us  to  have  the  others  do 
well.  The  relations  between  us  now  are 
those  of  cordial  friendship,  and  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  all  alike  that  this  friendship 
should  ever  remain  unbroken.  Nor  is  there 
the  least  chance  of  its  being  broken,  pro- 
vided only  that  all  of  us  alike  act  with  full 
recognition  of  the  vital  need  that  each 
should  realize  that  his  own  interests  can 
best  be  served  by  serving  the  interests  of 
others. 

You,  men  of  Canada,  are  doing  substan- 
tially the  same  work  that  we  of  this  repub- 
lic are  doing,  and  face  substantially  the 
same  problems  that  we  also  face.  Yours  is 
the  world  of  the  merchant,  the  manufac- 


234 


THE  TWO  AMEEICAS 


turer  and  meclianic,  the  farmer,  the  ranch- 
man, and  the  miner ; you  are  subduing  the 
prairie  and  the  forest,  tilling  farm-land, 
building  cities,  striving  to  raise  ever  higher 
the  standard  of  right,  to  bring  ever  nearer 
the  day  when  true  justice  shall  obtain  be- 
tween man  and  man;  and  we  wish  god- 
speed to  you  and  yours,  and  may  the  kind- 
liest ties  of  good  will  always  exist  between 
us. 

To  you  of  the  republics  south  of  us,  I wish 
to  say  a special  word.  I believe  with  all  my  ♦ 
heart  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  This  doc- 
trine is  not  to  be  invoked  for  the  aggran- 
dizement of  any  one  of  us  here  on  this  con- 
tinent at  the  expense  of  any  one  else  on  this 
continent.  It  should  be  regarded  simply  as 
a great  international  Pan-American  policy, 
vital  to  the  interests  of  all  of  us.  The 
United  States  has,  and  ought  to  have,  and 
must  ever  have,  only  the  desire  to  see  her  sis- 
ter commonwealths  in  the  western  hemi- 
sphere continue  to  flourish,  and  the  determin- 
ation that  no  Old  World  power  shall  acquire 
new  territory  here  on  this  western  continent. 
We  of  the  two  Americas  must  be  left  to 
work  out  our  own  salvation  along  our  own 
lines ; and  if  we  are  wise  we  will  make  it 
understood  as  a cardinal  feature  of  our  joint 
foreign  policy  that,  on  the  one  hand,  we  will 
not  submit  to  territorial  aggrandizement  on 


THE  TWO  AMEEICAS 


235 


this  continent  by  any  Old  World  power, 
and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  among  our- 
selves each  nation  must  scrupulously  regard 
the  rights  and  interests  of  the  others,  so 
that,  instead  of  any  one  of  us  committing 
the  criminal  folly  of  trying  to  rise  at  the  ex- 
pense of  our  neighbors,  we  shall  all  strive 
upward  in  honest  and  manly  brotherhood, 
shoulder  to  shoulder. 

A word  now  especially  to  my  own  fellow- 
countrymen.  I think  that  we  have  all  of  us 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  showing  made 
in  this  exposition,  as  in  the  great  expositions 
of  the  past,  of  the  results  of  the  enterprise, 
the  shrewd  daring,  the  business  energy  and 
capacity,  and  the  artistic  and,  above  all,  the 
wonderful  mechanical  skill  and  inventive- 
ness of  our  people.  In  all  of  this  we  have 
legitimate  cause  to  feel  a noble  pride,  and  a 
still  nobler  pride  in  the  showing  made  of 
what  we  have  done  in  such  matters  as  our 
system  of  wide-spread  popular  education  and 
in  the  field  of  philanthropy,  especially  in 
that  best  kind  of  philanthropy  which  teaches 
each  man  to  help  lift  both  himself  and  his 
neighbor  by  joining  with  that  neighbor  hand 
in  hand  in  a common  effort  for  the  common 
good. 

But  we  should  err  greatly,  we  should  err 
in  the  most  fatal  of  ways,  by  wilful  blind- 
ness to  whatever  is  not  pleasant,  if,  while 


236 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


justly  proud  of  our  achievements,  we  failed 
to  realize  that  we  have  plenty  of  shortcom- 
ings to  remedy,  that  there  are  terrible  prob- 
lems before  us,  which  we  must  work  out 
right,  under  the  gravest  national  penalties 
if  we  fail.  It  cannot  be  too  often  repeated 
that  there  is  no  patent  device  for  securing 
good  government ; that  after  all  is  said  and 
done,  after  we  have  given  full  credit  to  every 
scheme  for  increasing  our  material  prosper- 
ity, to  every  effort  of  the  lawmaker  to  pro- 
vide a system  under  which  each  man  shall 
be  best  secured  in  his  own  rights,  it  yet  re- 
mains true  that  the  great  factor  in  working 
out  the  success  of  this  giant  republic  of  the 
western  continent  must  be  the  possession  of 
those  qualities  of  essential  virtue  and  essen- 
tial manliness  which  have  built  up  every 
great  and  mighty  people  of  the  past,  and 
the  lack  of  which  always  has  brought,  and 
always  will  bring,  the  proudest  of  nations 
crashing  down  to  ruin.  Here  in  this  exposi- 
tion, on  the  Stadium  and  on  the  pylons  of 
the  bridge,  you  have  written  certain  sen- 
tences to  which  we  all  must  subscribe,  and 
to  which  we  must  live  up  if  we  are  in  any  way 
or  measure  to  do  our  duty : ‘‘  Who  shuns  the 
dust  and  sweat  of  the  contest,  on  his  brow 
falls  not  the  cool  shade  of  the  olive,”  and 
“A  free  state  exists  only  in  the  virtue  of 
the  citizen.”  We  all  accept  these  statements 


THE  TWO  AMEEICAS 


237 


in  theory ; but  if  we  do  not  live  up  to  them 
in  practice,  then  there  is  no  health  in  us. 
Take  the  two  together  always.  In  our  eager, 
restless  life  of  effort,  but  little  can  be  done 
by  that  cloistered  virtue  of  which  Milton 
spoke  with  such  fine  contempt.  We  need 
the  rough,  strong  qualities  that  make  a man 
fit  to  play  his  part  well  among  men.  Yet 
we  need  to  remember  even  more  that  no 
ability,  no  strength  and  force,  no  power  of 
intellect  or  power  of  wealth,  shall  avail  us, 
if  we  have  not  the  root  of  right  living  in  us ; 
if  we  do  not  pay  more  than  a mere  lip- 
loyalty  to  the  old,,  old  commonplace  virtues, 
which  stand  at  the  foundation  of  all  social 
and  political  well-being. 

It  is  easy  to  say  what  we  ought  to  do,  but 
it  is  hard  to  do  it;  and  yet  no  scheme  can 
be  devised  which  will  save  us  from  the  need 
of  doing  just  this  hard  work.  Not  merely 
must  each  of  us  strive  to  do  his  duty ; in 
addition  it  is  imperatively  necessary  also  to 
establish  a strong  and  intelligent  public 
opinion  which  will  require  each  to  do  his 
duty.  If  any  man  here  falls  short  he  should 
not  only  feel  ashamed  of  himself,  but  in 
some  way  he  ought  also  to  be  made  con- 
scious of  the  condemnation  of  his  fellows, 
and  this  no  matter  what  form  his  short- 
coming takes.  Doing  our  duty  is,  of  course, 
incumbent  on  every  one  of  us  alike ; yet  the 


238 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


heaviest  blame  for  dereliction  should  fall  on 
the  man  who  sins  against  the  light,  the  man 
to  whom  much  has  been  given,  and  from 
whom,  therefore,  we  have  a right  to  expect 
much  in  return.  We  should  hold  to  a pecu- 
liarly rigid  accountability  those  men  who  in 
public  life,  or  as  editors  of  great  papers,  or 
as  owners  of  vast  fortunes,  or  as  leaders  and 
molders  of  opinion  in  the  pulpit,  or  on  the 
platform,  or  at  the  bar,  are  guilty  of  wrong- 
doing, no  matter  what  form  thatwrong-doing 
may  take. 

In  addition,  however,  to  the  problems 
which,  under  Protean  shapes,  are  yet  fun- 
damentally the  same  for  all  nations  and  for 
all  times,  there  are  others  which  especially 
need  our  attention,  because  they  are  the 
especial  productions  of  our  present  indus- 
trial civilization.  The  tremendous  indus- 
trial development  of  the  nineteenth  century 
has  not  only  conferred  great  benefits  upon 
us  of  the  twentieth,  but  it  has  also  exposed 
us  to  grave  dangers.  This  highly  com- 
plex movement  has  had  many  sides,  some 
good  and  some  bad,  and  has  produced  an 
absolutely  novel  set  of  phenomena.  To 
secure  from  them  the  best  results  will  tax 
to  the  utmost  the  resources  of  the  states- 
man, the  economist,  and  the  social  reformer. 
There  has  been  an  immense  relative  growth 
of  urban  population,  and,  in  consequence, 


THE  TWO  AMEEICAS 


239 


an  immense  growth  of  the  body  of  wage- 
workers, together  with  an  accumulation  of 
enormous  fortunes  which  more  and  more 
tend  to  express  their  power  through  great  ^ 
corporations  that  are  themselves  guided 
by  some  master  mind  of  the  business  world. 
As  a result,  we  are  confronted  by  a for- 
midable series  of  perplexing  problems,  with 
which  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  deal,  and 
yet  with  which  it  is  not  merely  useless,  but 
in  the  highest  degree  unwise  and  dangerous 
to  deal,  save  with  wisdom,  insight,  and  self- 
restraint. 

There  are  certain  truths  which  are  so 
commonplace  as  to  be  axiomatic ; and  yet  so 
important  that  we  cannot  keep  them  too 
vividly  before  our  minds.  The  true  welfare 
of  the  nation  is  indissolubly  bound  up  with 
the  welfare  of  the  farmer  and  the  wage- 
worker— of  the  man  who  tills  the  soil,  and 
of  the  mechanic,  the  handicraftsman,  the 
laborer.  If  we  can  insure  the  prosperity  of 
these  two  classes  we  need  not  trouble  our- 
selves about  the  prosperity  of  the  rest,  for 
that  will  follow  as  a matter  of  course. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  true  that 
the  prosperity  of  any  of  us  can  best  be  at- 
tained by  measures  that  will  promote  the 
prosperity  of  all.  The  poorest  motto  upon 
which  an  American  can  act  is  the  motto 
of  “ some  men  down,”  and  the  safest  to  fol- 


240 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


low  is  that  of  “ all  men  up.”  A good  deal 
can  and  ought  to  he  done  by  law.  For  in- 
stance, the  State  and,  if  necessary,  the  na- 
tion should  by  law  assume  ample  power  of 
supervising  and  regulating  the  acts  of  any 
corporation  (which  can  be  but  its  creature), 
and  generally  of  those  immense  business 
enterprises  which  exist  only  because  of  the 
safety  and  protection  to  property  guaran- 
teed by  our  system  of  government.  Yet  it 
is  equally  true  that,  while  this  power  should 
exist,  it  should  be  used  sparingly  and  with 
self-restraint.  Modern  industrial  competi- 
tion is  very  keen  between  nation  and  nation, 
and  now  that  our  country  is  striding  for- 
ward with  the  pace  of  a giant  to  take  the 
leading  position  in  the  international  indus- 
trial world,  we  should  beware  how  we  fetter 
our  limbs,  how  we  cramp  our  Titan  strength. 
While  striving  to  prevent  industrial  injus- 
tice at  home,  we  must  not  bring  upon  our- 
selves industrial  weakness  abroad.  This  is 
a task  for  which  we  need  the  finest  abilities 
of  the  statesman,  the  student,  the  patriot, 
and  the  far-seeing  lover  of  mankind.  It  is 
a task  in  which  we  shall  fail  with  absolute 
certainty  if  we  approach  it  after  having 
surrendered  ourselves  to  the  guidance  of 
the  demagogue,  or  the  doctrinaire,  of  the 
well-meaning  man  who  thinks  feebly,  or  of 
the  cunning  self-seeker  who  endeavors  to 


THE  TWO  AMERICAS 


241 


rise  by  committing  that  worst  of  crimes 
against  our  people — the  crime  of  inflam- 
ing brother  against  brother,  one  American 
against  his  fellow- Americans. 

My  fellow-countrymen,  bad  laws  are  evil 
things,  good  laws  are  necessary ; and  a clean, 
fearless,  common-sense  administration  of  the 
laws  is  even  more  necessary;  but  what  we 
need  most  of  all  is  to  look  to  our  own  selves 
to  see  that  our  consciences  as  individuals, 
that  our  collective  national  conscience,  may 
respond  instantly  to  every  appeal  for  high 
action,  for  lofty  and  generous  endeavor. 
There  must  and  shall  be  no  falling  off  in 
the  national  traits  of  hardihood  and  manli- 
ness; and  we  must  keep  ever  bright  the 
love  of  justice,  the  spirit  of  strong  brotherly 
friendship  for  one’s  fellows,  which  we  hope 
and  believe  will  hereafter  stand  as  typical 
of  the  men  who  make  up  this,  the  mightiest 
republic  upon  which  the  sun  has  ever  shone. 


16 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


Address  at  the  Quaetek-Centennial  Celebration  op  State- 
hood IN  Colorado,  at  Colorado  Springs,  August  2,  1901 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


9 

This  anniversary,  which,  marks  the  com- 
pletion by  Colorado  of  her  first  quarter- 
century  of  Statehood,  is  of  interest  not  only 
to  her  sisters,  the  States  of  the  Eocky  Moun- 
tain region,  but  to  our  whole  country.  With 
the  exception  of  the  admission  to  Statehood 
of  California,  no  other  event  emphasized  in 
such  dramatic  fashion  the  full  meaning  of  the 
growth  of  our  country  as  did  the  incoming 
of  Colorado. 

It  is  a law  of  our  intellectual  development 
that  the  greatest  and  most  important  truths, 
when  once  we  have  become  thoroughly  fa- 
miliar with  them,  often  because  of  that  very 
familiarity  grow  dim  in  our  minds.  The 
westward  spread  of  our  people  across  this 
continent  has  been  so  rapid,  and  so  great 
has  been  their  success  in  taming  the  rugged 
wilderness,  turning  the  gray  desert  into 
green  fertility,  and  filling  the  waste  and 
lonely  places  with  the  eager,  thronging, 
crowded  life’  of  our  industrial  civilization, 
that  we  have  begun  to  accept  it  all  as  part 

245 


246 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


of  the  order  of  nature.  Moreover,  it  now 
seems  to  us  equally  a matter  of  course  that 
when  a sufficient  number  of  the  citizens  of 
our  common  country  have  thus  entered  into 
and  taken  possession  of  some  great  tract  of 
empty  wilderness,  they  should  be  permitted 
to  enter  the  Union  as  a State  on  an  absolute 
equality  with  the  older  States,  having  the 
same  right  both  to  manage  their  own  local 
affairs  as  they  deem  best,  and  to  exercise 
their  full  share  of  control  over  all  the  affairs 
of  whatever  kind  or  sort  in  which  the  na- 
tion is  interested  as  a whole.  The  youngest 
and  the  oldest  States  stand  on  an  exact  level 
in  one  indissoluble  and  perpetual  Union. 

To  us  nowadays  these  processes  seem  so 
natural  that  it  is  only  by  a mental  wrench 
that  we  conceive  of  any  other  as  possible. 
Yet  they  are  really  wholly  modern  and  of 
purely  American  development.  When,  a cen- 
tury before  Colorado  became  a State,  the  ori- 
ginal thirteen  States  began  the  great  experi- 
ment of  a free  and  independent  republic  on 
this  continent,  the  processes  which  we  now 
accept  in  such  matter-of-course  fashion  were 
looked  upon  as  abnormal  and  revolutionary. 
It  is  our  own  success  here  in  America  that 
has  brought  about  the  complete  alteration  in 
feeling.  The  chief  factor  in  producing  the 
Kevolution,  and  later  in  producing  the  War 
of  1812,  was  the  inability  of  the  mother- 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


247 


country  to  understand  that  the  freemen  who 
went  forth  to  conquer  a continent  should  be 
encouraged  in  that  work,  and  could  not  and 
ought  not  to  be  expected  to  toil  only  for  the 
profit  or  glory  of  others.  When  the  first 
Continental  Congress  assembled,  the  British 
government,  like  every  other  government  of 
Europe  at  that  time,  simply  did  not  know 
how  to  look  upon  the  general  question  of 
the  progress  of  the  colonies  save  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  people  who  had  stayed  at 
home.  The  spread  of  the  hardy,  venture- 
some backwoodsmen  was  to  most  of  the 
statesmen  of  London  a matter  of  anxiety 
rather  than  of  pride,  and  the  famous  Quebec 
Act  of  1774  was  in  part  designed  with  the 
purpose  of  keeping  the  English-speaking 
settlements  permanently  east  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  preserving  the  mighty  and 
beautiful  valley  of  the  Ohio  as  a hunting- 
ground  for  savages,  a preserve  for  the  great 
fur-trading  companies ; and  as  late  as  1812 
this  project  was  partially  revived. 

More  extraordinary  still,  even  after  inde- 
pendence was  achieved,  and  a firm  Union 
accomplished  under  that  wonderful  docu- 
ment, the  Constitution  adopted  in  1789, 
we  still  see  traces  of  the  same  feeling  lin- 
gering here  and  there  in  our  own  country. 
There  were  plenty  of  men  in  the  seaboard 
States  who  looked  with  what  seems  to  us 


248 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


ludicrous  appreiiension  at  the  steady  west- 
ward growth  of  our  people.  Grave  senators 
and  representatives  expressed  dire  forebod- 
ing as  to  the  ruin  which  would  result  from 
admitting  the  communities  growing  up 
along  the  Ohio  to  a full  equality  with  the 
older  States ; and  when  Louisiana  was  given 
Statehood,  they  insisted  that  that  very  fact 
dissolved  the  Union.  When  our  people  had 
begun  to  settle  in  the  Mississippi  valley, 
Jetferson  himself  accepted  with  equanimity 
the  view  that  probably  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible to  keep  regions  so  infinitely  remote  as 
the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic  coast  in  the 
same  Union.  Later  even  such  a stanch  Union 
man  and  firm  believer  in  Western  growth  as 
fearless  old  Tom  Benton  of  Missouri  thought 
that  it  would  be  folly  to  try  to  extend 
the  national  limits  westward  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  In  1830  our  then  best-known 
man  of  letters  and  historian,  Washington 
Irving,  prophesied  that  for  ages  to  come  the 
country  upon  which  we  now  stand  would  be 
inhabited  simply  by  roving  tribes  of  nomads. 

The  mental  attitude  of  all  these  good  peo- 
ple need  not  surprise  anybody.  There  was 
nothing  in  the  past  by  which  to  judge  either 
the  task  before  this  country,  or  the  way  in 
which  that  task  was  to  be  done.  As  Lowell 
finely  said,  on  this  continent  we  have  made 
new  States  as  Old  World  men  pitch  tents. 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


249 


Even  tlie  most  far-seeing  statesmen,  those 
most  gifted  with  the  imagination  needed  by 
really  great  statesmen,  could  not  at  first 
grasp  what  the  process  really  meant.  Slowly 
and  with  incredible  labor  the  backwoods- 
men of  the  old  colonies  hewed  their  way 
through  the  dense  forests  from  the  tide- water 
region  to  the  crests  of  the  Alleghanies.  But 
by  the  time  the  Alleghanies  were  reached, 
about  at  the  moment  when  our  national  life 
began,  the  movement  had  gained  wonderful 
momentum.  Thenceforward  it  advanced  by 
leaps  and  bounds,  and  the  frontier  pushed 
westward  across  the  continent  with  ever- 
increasing  rapidity  until  the  day  came  when 
it  vanished  entirely.  Our  greatest  states- 
men have  always  been  those  who  believed  in 
the  nation — who  had  faith  in  the  power  of 
our  people  to  spread  until  they  should  be- 
come the  mightiest  among  the  peoples  of 
the  world. 

Under  any  governmental  system  which 
was  known  to  Europe,  the  problem  offered 
by  the  westward  thrust,  across  a continent, 
of  so  masterful  and  liberty-loving  a race  as 
ours  would  have  been  insoluble.  The  great 
civilized  and  colonizing  races  of  antiquity, 
the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  had  been  ut- 
terly unable  to  devise  a scheme  under  which 
when  their  race  spread  it  might  be  possible 
to  preserve  both  national  unity  and  local  and 


250 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


individual  freedom.  When  a Hellenic  or 
Latin  city  sent  off  a colony,  one  of  two 
things  happened.  Either  the  colony  was 
kept  in  political  subjection  to  the  city  or 
state  of  which  it  was  an  offshoot,  or  else  it 
became  a wholly  independent  and  alien, 
and  often  a hostile,  nation.  Both  systems 
were  fraught  with  disaster.  With  the  G-reeks 
race  unity  was  sacrificed  to  local  indepen- 
dence, and  as  a result  the  Greek  world  be- 
came the  easy  prey  of  foreign  conquerors. 
The  Romans  kept  national  unity,  but  only  by 
means  of  a crushing  centralized  despotism. 

When  the  modern  world  entered  upon 
the  marvelous  era  of  expansion  which  began 
with  the  discoveries  of  Columbus,  the  na- 
tions were  able  to  devise  no  new  plan.  All 
thegreat  colonizing  powers,  England,  France, 
Spain,  Portugal,  Holland,  and  Russia,  man- 
aged their  colonies  primarily  in  the  interest 
of  the  home  country.  Some  did  better  than 
others, — England  probably  best  and  Spain 
worst, — but  in  no  case  were  the  colonists 
treated  as  citizens  of  equal  rights  in  a com- 
mon country.  Our  ancestors,  who  were 
_ at  once  the  strongest  and  the  most  liberty- 
' loving  among  all  the  peoples  who  had  been 
thrust  out  into  new  continents,  were  the 
first  to  revolt  against  this  system;  and  the 
lesson  taught  by  their  success  has  been 
thoroughly  learned. 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


251 


In  applying  the  new  principles  to  our 
conditions  we  have  found  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution a nearly  perfect  instrument.  The 
system  of  a closely  knit  and  indestructible 
union  of  free  commonwealths  has  enabled 
us  to  do  what  neither  Greek  nor  Eoman  in 
their  greatest  days  could  do.  We  have  pre- 
served the  complete  unity  of  an  expanding 
race  without  impairing  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree the  liberty  of  the  individual.  When  in 
a given  locality  the  settlers  became  suffi- 
ciently numerous,  they  were  admitted  to 
Statehood,  and  thenceforward  shared  all  the 
rights  and  all  the  duties  of  the  citizens  of 
the  older  States.  As  with  Columbus  and 
the  egg,  the  expedient  seems  obvious  enough 
nowadays ; but  then  it  was  so  novel  that  a 
couple  of  generations  had  to  pass  before  we 
ourselves  thoroughly  grasped  all  its  features. 
At  last  we  grew  to  accept  as  axiomatic  the 
two  facts  of  national  union  and  local  and 
personal  freedom.  As  whatever  is  axiomatic 
seems  commonplace,  we  now  tend  to  accept 
what  has  been  accomplished  as  a mere  mat- 
ter-of-course incident,  of  no  great  moment. 
The  very  completeness  with  which  the  vitally 
important  task  has  been  done  almost  blinds 
us  to  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the  achieve- 
ment. 

You,  the  men  of  Colorado,  and,  above  all, 
the  older  among  those  whom  I am  now  ad- 


252 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


dressing,  have  been  engaged  in  doing  the 
great  typical  work  of  our  people.  Save 
only  the  preservation  of  the  Union  itself,  no 
other  task  has  been  so  important  as  the 
conquest  and  settlement  of  the  West.  This 
conquest  and  settlement  has  been  the  stu- 
pendous feat  of  our  race  for  the  century 
that  has  just  closed.  It  stands  supreme 
among  all  such  feats.  The  same  kind  of 
thing  has  been  in  Australia  and  Canada,  but 
upon  a less  important  scale,  while  the  Rus- 
sian advance  in  Siberia  has  been  incom- 
parably slower.  In  all  the  history  of  man- 
kind there  is  nothing  that  quite  parallels 
the  way  in  which  our  people  have  filled  a 
vacant  continent  with  self-governing  com- 
monwealths, knit  into  one  nation.  And  of 
all  this  marvelous  history  perhaps  the  most 
wonderful  portion  is  that  which  deals  with 
the  way  in  which  the  Pacific  coast  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains  were  settled. 

The  men  who  founded  these  communities 
showed  practically  by  their  life-work  that 
it  is  indeed  the  spirit  of  ad  venture  which  is 
the  maker  of  commonwealths.  Their  traits 
of  daring  and  hardihood  and  iron  endur- 
ance are  not  merely  indispensable  traits 
for  pioneers;  they  are  also  traits  which 
must  go  to  the  make-up  of  every  mighty 
and  successful  people.  You  and  your  fathers 
who  built  up  the  West  did  more  even  than 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


253 


you  thought;  for  you  shaped  thereby  the 
destiny  of  the  whole  republic,  and  as  a neces- 
sary corollary  profoundly  influenced  the 
course  of  events  throughout  the  world. 
More  and  more  as  the  years  go  by  this  re- 
public will  And  its  guidance  in  the  thought 
and  action  of  the  West,  because  the  condi- 
tions of  development  in  the  West  have 
steadily  tended  to  accentuate  the  peculiarly 
American  characteristics  of  its  people. 

There  was  scant  room  for  the  coward 
and  the  weakling  in  the  ranks  of  the  adven- 
turous frontiersmen— the  pioneer  settlers 
who  first  broke  up  the  wild  prairie  soil,  who 
first  hewed  their  way  into  the  primeval  for- 
est, who  guided  their  white-topped  wagons 
across  the  endless  leagues  of  Indian-haunted 
desolation,  and  explored  every  remote  moun- 
tain-chain in  the  restless  quest  for  metal 
wealth.  Behind  them  came  the  men  who 
completed  the  work  they  had  roughly  be- 
gun: who  drove  the  great  railroad  systems 
over  plain  and  desert  and  mountain  pass; 
who  stocked  the  teeming  ranches,  and  under 
irrigation  saw  the  bright  green  of  the  alfalfa 
and  the  yellow  of  the  golden  stubble  sup- 
plant the  gray  of  the  sage-brush  desert ; who 
have  built  great  populous  cities — cities  in 
which  every  art  and  science  of  civilization 
are  carried  to  the  highest  point — on  tracts 
which,  when  the  nineteenth  century  had 


254 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


passed  its  meridian,  were  still  known  only 
to  the  grim  trappers  and  hunters  and  the 
red  lords  of  the  wilderness  with  whom  they 
waged  eternal  war. 

Such  is  the  record  of  which  we  are  so 
proud.  It  is  a record  of  men  who  greatly 
dared  and  greatly  did ; a record  of  wander- 
ings wider  and  more  dangerous  than  those 
of  the  Vikings ; a record  of  endless  feats  of 
arms,  of  victory  after  victory  in  the  ceaseless 
strife  waged  against  wild  man  and  wild 
nature.  The  winning  of  the  West  was  the 
great  epic  feat  in  the  history  of  our  race. 

We  have  then  a right  to  meet  to-day  in  a 
spirit  of  just  pride  in  the  past.  But  when 
we  pay  homage  to  the  hardy,  grim,  resolute 
men  who,  with  incredible  toil  and  risk,  laid 
deep  the  foundations  of  the  civilization  that 
we  inherit,  let  us  steadily  remember  that  the 
only  homage  that  counts  is  the  homage  of 
deeds— not  merely  of  words.  It  is  well  to 
gather  here  to  show  that  we  remember  what 
has  been  done  in  the  past  by  the  Western 
pioneers  of  our  people,  and  that  we  glory 
in  the  greatness  ior  which  they  prepared 
the  way.  But  lip-loyalty  by  itself  avails 
very  little,  whether  it  is  expressed  concern- 
ing a nation  or  an  ideal.  It  would  be  a sad 
and  evil  thing  for  this  country  if  ever  the 
day  came  when  we  considered  the  great 
deeds  of  our  forefathers  as  an  excuse  for 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


255 


our  resting  slotMully  satisfied  with  what 
has  been  already  done.  On  the  contrary, 
they  should  be  an  inspiration  and  appeal, 
summoning  us  to  show  that  we  too  have 
courage  and  strength ; that  we  too  are  ready 
to  dare  greatly  if  the  need  arises ; and,  above 
all,  that  we  are  firmly  bent  upon  that  steady 
performance  of  every-day  duty  which,  in 
the  long  run,  is  of  such  incredible  worth  in 
the  formation  of  national  character. 

The  old  iron  days  have  gone,  the  days 
when  the  weakling  died  as  the  penalty  of 
inability  to  hold  his  own  in  the  rough  war- 
fare against  his  surroundings.  We  live  in 
softer  times.  Let  us  see  to  it  that,  while  we 
take  advantage  of  every  gentler  and  more 
humanizing  tendency  of  the  age,  we  yet  pre- 
serve the  iron  quality  which  made  our  fore- 
fathers and  predecessors  fit  to  do  the  deeds 
they  did.  It  will  of  necessity  find  a differ- 
ent expression  now,  but  the  quality  itself 
remains  just  as  necessary  as  ever.  Surely 
you  men  of  the  West,  you  men  who  with 
stout  heart,  cool  head,  and  ready  hand  have 
wrought  out  your  own  success  and  built  up 
these  great  new  commonwealths,  surely  you 
need  no  reminder  of  the  fact  that  if  either 
man  or  nation  wishes  to  play  a great  part 
in  the  world  there  must  be  no  dallying  with 
the  life  of  lazy  ease.  In  the  abounding 
energy  and  intensity  of  existence  in  our 


256 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


mighty  democratic  republic  there  is  small 
space  indeed  for  the  idler,  for  the  luxury- 
loving  man  who  prizes  ease  more  than  hard, 
triumph-crowned  effort. 

We  hold  work  not  as  a curse  but  as  a 
blessing,  and  we  regard  the  idler  with  scorn- 
ful pity.  It  would  be  in  the  highest  degree 
undesirable  that  we  should  all  work  in  the 
same  way  or  at  the  same  things,  and  for  the 
sake  of  the  real  greatness  of  the  nation  we 
should  in  the  fullest  and  most  cordial  way 
recognize  the  fact  that  some  of  the  most 
needed  work  must,  from  its  very  nature,  be 
unremunerative  in  a material  sense.  Each 
man  must  choose  so  far  as  the  conditions 
allow  him  the  path  to  which  he  is  bidden  by 
his  own  peculiar  powers  and  inclinations. 
But  if  he  is  a man  he  must  in  some  way  or 
shape  do  a man’s  work.  If,  after  making  all 
the  effort  that  his  strength  of  body  and  of 
mind  permits,  he  yet  honorably  fails,  why, 
he  is  still  entitled  to  a certain  share  of  re- 
spect because  he  has  made  the  effort.  But 
if  he  does  not  make  the  effort,  or  if  he  makes 
it  half-heartedly  and  recoils  from  the  labor, 
the  risk,  or  the  irksome  monotony  of  his 
task,  why,  he  has  forfeited  all  right  to  our 
respect,  and  has  shown  himself  a mere  cum- 
berer  of  the  earth.  It  is  not  given  to  us  all 
to  succeed,  but  it  is  given  to  us  all  to  strive 
manfully  to  deserve  success. 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


257 


We  need  then  the  iron  qualities  that  must 
go  with  true  manhood.  We  need  the  posi- 
tive virtues  of  resolution,  of  courage,  of 
indomitable  will,  of  power  to  do  without 
shrinking  the  rough  work  that  must  always 
be  done,  and  to  persevere  through  the  long 
days  of  slow  progress  or  of  seeming  failure 
which  always  come  before  any  final  triumph, 
no  matter  how  brilliant.  But  we  need  more 
than  these  qualities.  This  country  cannot 
afford  to  have  its  sons  less  than  men;  but 
neither  can  it  afford  to  have  them  other 
than  good  men.  If  courage  and  strength 
and  intellect  are  unaccompanied  by  the 
moral  purpose,  the  moral  sense,  they  be- 
come merely  forms  of  expression  for  un- 
scrupulous force  and  unscrupulous  cunning. 
If  the  strong  man  has  not  in  him  the  lift  to- 
ward lofty  things  his  strength  makes  him 
only  a curse  to  himself  and  to  his  neighbor. 
All  this  is  true  in  private  life,  and  it  is 
no  less  true  in  public  life.  If  Washington 
and  Lincoln  had  not  had  in  them  the  whip- 
cord fiber  of  moral  and  mental  strength,  the 
soul  that  steels  itself  to  endure  disaster 
unshaken  and  with  grim  resolve  to  wrest 
victory  from  defeat,  then  the  one  could  not 
have  founded,  nor  the  other  preserved,  our 
mighty  federal  Union.  The  least  touch  of 
flabbiness,  of  unhealthy  softness,  in  either 
would  have  meant  ruin  for  this  nation,  and 

17 


258 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


therefore  the  downfall  of  the  proudest  hope 
of  mankind.  But  no  less  is  it  true  that  had 
either  been  influenced  by  self-seeking  am- 
bition, by  callous  disregard  of  others,  by 
contempt  for  the  moral  law,  he  would 
have  dashed  us  down  into  the  black  gulf  of 
failure.  Woe  to  all  of  us  if  ever  as  a people 
we  grow  to  condone  evil  because  it  is  suc- 
cessful. We  can  no  more  afford  to  lose 
social  and  civic  decency  and  honesty  than 
we  can  afford  to  lose  the  qualities  of 
courage  and  strength.  It  is  the  merest 
truism  to  say  that  the  nation  rests  upon  the 
individual,  upon  the  family— upon  individ- 
ual manliness  and  womanliness,  using  the 
words  in  their  widest  and  fullest  meaning. 

To  be  a good  husband  or  good  wife, 
a good  neighbor  and  friend,  to  be  hard- 
working and  upright  in  business  and  social 
relations,  to  bring  up  many  healthy  chil- 
dren— to  be  and  to  do  all  this  is  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  good  citizenship  as  they  must 
be  laid.  But  we  cannot  stop  even  with 
this.  Each  of  us  has  not  only  his  duty  to 
himself,  his  family,  and  his  neighbors,  but 
his  duty  to  the  State  and  to  the  nation.  We 
are  in  honor  bound  each  to  strive  according 
to  his  or  her  strength  to  bring  ever  nearer 
the  day  when  justice  and  wisdom  shall 
obtain  in  public  life  as  in  private  life.  We 
cannot  retain  the  full  measure  of  our  self- 


MANHOOD  AND  STATEHOOD 


259 


respect  if  we  cannot  retain  pride  in  our 
citizenship.  For  the  sake  not  only  of  our- 
selves but  of  our  children  and  our  children’s 
children  we  must  see  that  this  nation  stands 
for  strength  and  honesty  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  In  our  internal  policy  we  cannot 
afford  to  rest  satisfied  until  all  that  the 
government  can  do  has  been  done  to  secure 
fair  dealing  and  equal  justice  as  between 
man  and  man.  In  the  great  part  which 
hereafter,  whether  we  will  or  not,  we  must 
play  in  the  world  at  large,  let  us  see  to 
it  that  we  neither  do  wi’ong  nor  shrink  from 
doing  right  because  the  right  is  difficult; 
that  on  the  one  hand  we  inflict  no  injury, 
and  that  on  the  other  we  have  a due  regard 
for  the  honor  and  the  interest  of  our  mighty 
nation;  and  that  we  keep  unsullied  the 
renown  of  the  flag  which  beyond  all  others 
of  the  present  time  or  of  the  ages  of  the 
past  stands  for  confident  faith  in  the  future 
welfare  and  greatness  of  mankind. 


4 


BROTHERHOOD  AND  THE 
HEROIC  VIRTUES 


Addeess  at  Veterans’  Eeunion,  BuRLrNGTON,  Vermont, 
Thursday,  September  5,  1901 


BROTHERHOOD  AND  THE 
HEROIC  VIRTUES 

9 

I SPEAK  to  you  to-niglit  less  as  men  of 
Vermont  than  as  members  of  the  Grand 
Army  which  saved  the  Union.  But  at  the 
outset  I must  pay  a special  tribute  to  your 
State.  Vermont  was  not  a rich  State,  com- 
pared with  many  States,  and  she  had  sent  out 
so  many  tens  of  thousands  of  her  sons  to  the 
West  that  it  is  not  improbable  that  as  many 
men  of  Vermont  birth  served  in  the  regi- 
ments of  other  States  as  in  those  of  her 
own  State.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  drain, 
your  gallant  State  was  surpassed  by  no 
other  State  of  the  North,  either  in  the  num- 
ber of  men  according  to  her  population 
which  she  sent  into  the  army,  or  in  the  rela- 
tive extent  of  her  financial  support  of  the 
war.  Too  much  cannot  be  said  of  the  high 
quality  of  the  Vermont  soldiers;  and  one 
contributing  factor  in  securing  this  high 
quality  was  the  good  sense  which  continu- 
ally sent  recruits  into  the  already  existing 
regiments  instead  of  forming  new  ones. 

263 


264 


BROTHEEHOOD  AND 


It  is  difficult  to  express  the  full  measure 
of  obligation  under  which  this  country  is  to 
the  men  who  from  ’61  to  ’65  took  up  the 
most  terrible  and  vitally  necessary  task 
which  has  ever  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  gen- 
eration of  men  in  the  western  hemisphere. 
Other  men  have  rendered  great  service  to 
the  country,  but  the  service  you  rendered 
was  not  merely  great — it  was  incalculable. 
Other  men  by  their  lives  or  their  deaths  have 
kept  unstained  our  honor,  have  wrought 
marvels  for  our  interest,  have  led  us  forward 
to  triumph,  or  warded  off  disaster  from  us ; 
other  men  have  marshaled  our  ranks  up- 
ward across  the  stony  slopes  of  greatness. 
But  you  did  more,  for  you  saved  us  from 
annihilation.  We  can  feel  proud  of  what 
others  did  only  because  of  what  you  did.  It 
was  given  to  you,  when  the  mighty  days 
came,  to  do  the  mighty  deeds,  for  which  the 
days  called,  and  if  your  deeds  had  been  left 
undone,  all  that  had  been  already  accom- 
plished would  have  turned  into  apples  of 
Sodom  under  our  teeth.  The  glory  of 
Washington  and  the  majesty  of  Marshall 
would  have  crumbled  into  meaningless 
dust  if  you  and  your  comrades  had  not 
buttressed  their  work  with  your  strength 
of  steel,  your  courage  of  fire.  The  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  would  now  sound 
like  a windy  platitude,  the  Constitution 


THE  HEEOIC  VIETUES 


265 


of  the  United  States  would  ring  as  false 
as  if  drawn  by  the  Abbe  Sieyes  in  the 
days  of  the  French  Terror,  if  your  stern 
valor  had  not  proved  the  truth  of  the  one 
and  made  good  the  promise  of  the  other. 
In  our  history  there  have  been  other  victo- 
rious struggles  for  right,  on  the  field  of 
battle  and  in  ci\dc  strife.  To  have  failed  in 
these  other  struggles  would  have  meant  bit- 
ter shame  and  grievous  loss.  But  you  fought 
in  the  one  struggle  where  failure  meant 
death  and  destruction  to  our  people ; meant 
that  our  whole  past  history  would  be  crossed 
out  of  the  records  of  successful  endeavor 
with  the  red  and  black  lines  of  failure; 
meant  that  not  one  man  in  all  this  wide 
country  would  now  be  holding  his  head 
ppright  as  a free  citizen  of  a mighty  and 
glorious  republic. 

All  this  you  did,  and  therefore  you  are 
entitled  to  the  homage  of  all  men  who  have 
not  forgotten  in  their  blindness  either  the 
awful  nature  of  the  crisis,  or  the  worth  of 
priceless  service  rendered  in  the  hour  of 
direst  need. 

You  met  a great  need,  that  vanished  be- 
cause of  your  success.  You  have  left  us 
many  memories,  to  be  prized  forevermore. 
You  have  taught  us  many  lessons,  and 
none  more  important  than  the  lesson  of 
brotherhood.  The  realization  of  the  under- 


266 


BROTHERHOOD  AND 


lying  brotherhood  of  our  people,  the  feeling 
that  there  should  be  among  them  an  essen- 
tial unity  of  purpose  and  sympathy,  must 
be  kept  close  at  heart  if  we  are  to  do  our 
work  well  here  in  our  American  life.  You 
have  taught  us  both  by  what  you  did  on 
the  tented  fields,  and  by  what  you  have 
done  since  in  civic  life,  how  this  spirit  of 
brotherhood  can  be  made  a living,  a vital 
force. 

In  the  first  place,  you  have  left  us  the 
right  of  brotherhood  with  the  gallant  men 
who  wore  the  gray  in  the  ranks  against 
which  you  were  pitted.  At  the  opening  of 
this  new  century,  all  of  us,  the  children  of  a 
reunited  country,  have  a right  to  glory  in 
the  countless  deeds  of  valor  done  alike  by 
the  men  of  the  North  and  the  men  of  the 
South.  We  can  retain  an  ever-growing 
sense  of  the  all-importance,  not  merely  to 
our  people  but  to  mankind,  of  the  Union 
victory,  while  giving  the  freest  and  heartiest 
recognition  to  the  sincerity  and  self-devotion 
of  those  Americans,  our  fellow-countrymen, 
who  then  fought  against  the  stars  in  their 
courses.  Now  there  is  none  left,  North  or 
South,  who  does  not  take  joy  and  pride  in 
the  Union;  and  when  three  years  ago  we 
once  more  had  to  face  a foreign  enemy,  the 
heart  of  every  true  American  thrilled  with 
pride  to  see  veterans  who  had  fought  in  the 


THE  HEEOIC  VIRTUES 


267 


Confederate  uniform  once  more  appear  under 
Uncle  Sam’s  colors,  side  by  side  with  their 
former  foes,  and  leading  to  victory  under 
the  famous  old  flag  the  sons  both  of  those 
who  had  worn  the  blue  and  of  those  who 
had  worn  the  gray. 

But  there  are  other  ways  in  which  you 
have  taught  the  lesson  of  brotherhood.  In 
our  highly  complex,  highly  specialized  in- 
dustrial life  of  to-day  there  are  many  ten- 
dencies for  good  and  there  are  also  many 
tendencies  for  evil.  Chief  among  the  latter 
is  the  way  in  which,  in  great  industrial  cen- 
ters, the  segregation  of  interests  invites  a 
segregation  of  sympathies.  In  our  old 
American  life,  and  in  the  country  districts 
where  to-day  the  old  conditions  still  largely 
obtain,  there  was  and  is  no  such  sharp  and 
rigid  demarcation  between  different  groups 
of  citizens.  In  most  country  districts  at  the 
present  day  not  only  have  the  people  many 
feelings  in  common,  but,  what  is  quite  as 
important,  they  are  perfectly  aware  that 
they  have  these  feelings  in  common.  In 
the  cities  the  divergence  of  real  interests  is 
nothing  like  as  great  as  is  commonly  sup- 
posed ; but  it  does  exist,  and,  above  all,  there 
is  a tendency  to  forget  or  ignore  the  com- 
munity of  interest.  There  is  comparatively 
little  neighborliness,  and  life  is  so  busy  and 
the  population  so  crowded  that  it  is  impos- 


268 


BROTHERHOOD  AND 


sible  for  the  average  man  to  get  into  touch 
with  any  of  his  fellow-citizens  save  those  in 
his  immediate  little  group.  In  consequence 
there  tends  to  grow  up  a feeling  of  estrange- 
ment between  different  groups,  of  forgetful- 
ness of  the  great  primal  needs  and  primal 
passions  that  are  common  to  all  of  us. 

It  is  therefore  of  the  utmost  benefit  to 
have  men  thrown  together  under  circum- 
stances which  force  them  to  realize  their 
community  of  interest,  especially  where  the 
community  of  interest  arises  from  commu- 
nity of  devotion  to  a lofty  ideal.  The  great 
Civil  War  rendered  precisely  this  service. 
It  drew  into  the  field  a very  large  propor- 
tion of  the  adult  male  population,  and  it 
lasted  so  long  that  its  lessons  were  thor- 
oughly driven  home.  In  our  other  wars  the 
same  lessons,  or  nearly  the  same  lessons, 
have  been  taught,  but  upon  so  much  smaller 
a scale  that  the  effect  is  in  no  shape  or  way 
comparable.  In  the  Civil  War,  merchant 
and  clerk,  manufacturer  and  mechanic, 
farmer  and  hired  man,  capitalist  and  wage- 
worker, city  man  and  countryman.  Easterner 
and  Westerner,  went  into  the  army  together, 
faced  toil  and  risk  and  hardship  side  by 
side,  died  with  the  same  fortitude,  and  felt 
the  same  disinterested  thrill  of  triumph 
when  the  victory  came.  In  our  modern  life 
there  are  only  a few  occupations  where  risk 


THE  HEROIC  VIRTUES 


269 


has  to  be  feared,  and  there  are  many  occu- 
pations where  no  exhausting  labor  has  to  be 
faced ; and  so  there  are  plenty  of  ns  who 
can  be  benefited  by  a little  actual  experience 
with  the  rough  side  of  things.  It  was  a 
good  thing,  a very  good  thing,  to  have  a 
great  mass  of  our  people  learn  what  it  was 
to  face  death  and  endure  toil  together,  and 
all  on  an  exact  level.  You  whom  I am  now 
addressing  remember  well,  do  you  not,  the 
weary,  foot-sore  marches  under  the  burning 
sun,  when  the  blankets  seemed  too  heavy  to 
carry,  and  then  the  shivering  sleep  in  the 
trenches,  when  the  mud  froze  after  dark 
and  the  blankets  seemed  altogether  too  light 
instead  of  too  heavy?  You  remember  the 
scanty  fare,  and  you  remember,  above  all, 
how  you  got  to  estimate  each  of  your  fel- 
lows by  what  there  was  in  him  and  not  by 
anything  adventitious  in  his  surroundings. 
It  was  of  vital  importance  to  you  that  the 
men  on  your  left  and  your  right  should  do 
their  duty ; that  they  should  come  forward 
when  the  order  was  to  advance;  that  they 
should  keep  the  lines  with  ceaseless  vigi- 
lance and  fortitude  if  on  the  defensive. 
You  neither  knew  nor  cared  what  had  been 
their  occupations,  or  whether  they  were  in 
worldly  ways  well  off  or  the  reverse.  What 
you  desired  to  know  about  them  was  to  be 
sure  that  they  would  “ stay  put  ” when  the 


270 


BROTHERHOOD  AND 


crisis  came.  Was  not  this  so?  You  know 
it  was. 

Moreover,  all  these  qualities  of  fine  hero- 
ism and  stubborn  endurance  were  displayed 
in  a spirit  of  devotion  to  a lofty  ideal,  and 
not  for  material  gain.  The  average  man 
who  fought  in  our  armies  during  the  Civil 
War  could  have  gained  much  more  money  if 
he  had  stayed  in  civil  life.  When  the  end 
came  his  sole  reward  was  to  feel  that  the 
Union  had  been  saved,  and  the  flag  which 
had  been  rent  in  sunder  once  more  made 
whole.  Nothing  was  more  noteworthy  than 
the  marvelous  way  in  which,  once  the  war 
was  ended,  the  great  armies  which  had 
fought  it  to  a triumphant  conclusion  dis- 
banded, and  were  instantly  lost  in  the  cur- 
rent of  our  civil  life.  The  soldier  turned  at 
once  to  the  task  of  earning  his  own  liveli- 
hood. But  he  carried  within  him  memories 
of  inestimable  benefit  to  himself,  and  he 
bequeathed  to  us  who  come  after  him  the 
priceless  heritage  of  his  example.  From  the 
major-general  to  the  private  in  the  ranks 
each  came  back  to  civil  life  with  the  proud 
consciousness  of  duty  well  done,  and  all 
with  a feeling  of  community  of  interest 
which  they  could  have  gained  in  no  other 
way.  Each  knew  what  work  was,  what 
danger  was.  Each  came  back  with  his  own 
power  for  labor  and  endurance  strength- 


THE  HEEOIC  VIRTUES 


271 


ened,  and  yet  with  his  sympathy  for  others 
quickened.  From  that  day  to  this  the  men 
who  fought  in  the  great  war  have  inevitably 
had  in  them  a spirit  to  which  appeal  for 
any  lofty  cause  could  be  made  with  the 
confident  knowledge  that  there  would  be 
immediate  and  eager  response.  In  the 
breasts  of  the  men  who  saw  Appomattox 
there  was  no  room  for  the  growth  of  the 
jealous,  greedy,  sullen  envy  which  makes 
anarchy,  which  has  bred  the  red  Commune. 
They  had  gone  down  to  the  root  of  things, 
and  knew  how  to  judge  and  value,  each  man 
his  neighbor,  whether  that  neighbor  was 
rich  or  poor ; neither  envying  him  because 
of  his  wealth,  nor  despising  him  because  of 
his  poverty. 

The  lesson  taught  by  the  great  war  could 
only  be  imperfectly  taught  by  any  lesser 
war.  Nevertheless,  not  a little  good  has 
been  done  even  by  such  struggles  as  that 
which  ended  in  insuring  independence  to 
Cuba,  and  in  giving  to  the  Philippines  a 
freedom  to  which  they  could  never  have 
attained  had  we  permitted  them  to  fall 
into  anarchy  or  under  tyranny.  It  was  a 
pleasant  thing  to  see  the  way  in  which  men 
came  forward  from  every  walk  of  life,  from 
every  section  of  the  country,  as  soon  as  the 
call  to  arms  occurred.  The  need  was  small 
and  easily  met,  and  not  one  in  a hundred 


272 


BROTHERHOOD  AND 


of  the  ardent  young  fellows  who  pressed  for- 
ward to  enter  the  army  had  a chance  to  see 
any  service  whatever.  But  it  was  good  to 
see  that  the  spirit  of  ’61  had  not  been  lost. 
Perhaps  the  best  feature  of  the  whole  move- 
ment was  the  eagerness  with  which  men 
went  into  the  ranks,  anxious  only  to  serve 
their  country  and  to  do  their  share  of  the 
work  without  regard  to  anything  in  the  way 
of  reward  or  position ; for,  gentlemen,  it  is 
upon  the  efficiency  of  the  enlisted  man,  upon 
the  way  he  does  his  duty,  that  the  efficiency 
of  the  whole  army  really  depends,  and  the 
prime  work  of  the  officer  is,  after  all,  only  to 
develop,  foster,  and  direct  the  good  qualities 
of  the  men  under  him. 

Well,  this  rush  into  the  ranks  not  only 
had  a very  good  side,  but  also  at  times  an 
amusing  side.  I remember  one  character- 
istic incident  which  occurred  on  board  one 
of  our  naval  vessels.  Several  of  these  ves- 
sels were  officered  and  manned  chiefly  from 
the  naval  militia  of  the  different  States,  the 
commander  and  executive  officer,  and  a few 
veterans  here  and  there  among  the  crew, 
being  the  only  ones  that  came  from  the 
regular  service.  The  naval  militia  contained 
every  type  of  man,  from  bankers  with  a taste 
for  yachting  to  longshoremen,  and  they  all 
went  in  and  did  their  best.  But  of  course  it 
was  a little  hard  for  some  of  them  to  adjust 


THE  HEEOIC  VIRTUES 


273 


tliemselves  to  their  surroundings.  One  of 
the  vessels  in  question,  toward  the  end  of 
the  war,  returned  from  the  Spanish  Main 
and  anchored  in  one  of  our  big  ports.  Early 
one  morning  a hard-looking  and  seemingly 
rather  dejected  member  of  the  crew  was 
engaged  in  “ squeegeeing  ” the  quarter-deck, 
when  the  captain  came  up  and,  noticing  a 
large  and  handsome  yacht  near  by  (I  shall 
not  use  the  real  name  of  the  yacht),  remarked 
to  himself : “ I wonder  what  boat  that  is  ? ” 
The  man  with  the  squeegee  touched  his  cap 
and  said  in  answer : “ The  Daivn,  sir.”  “How 
do  you  know  that  ? ” quoth  the  captain,  look- 
ing at  him.  “Because  I own  her,  sir,”  re- 
sponded the  man  with  the  squeegee,  again 
touching  his  cap ; and  the  conversation 
ended. 

Now,  it  was  a first-rate  thing  for  that  man 
himself  to  have  served  his  trick,  not  merely 
as  the  man  behind  the  gun,  but  as  the  man 
with  the  squeegee ; and  it  was  a mighty  good 
thing  for  the  country  that  he  should  do  it. 
In  our  volunteer  regiments  we  had  scores  of 
enlisted  men  of  independent  means  serving 
under  oflicers  many  of  whom  were  depen- 
dent for  their  daily  bread  upon  the  work  of 
their  hands  or  brain  from  month  to  month. 
It  was  a good  thing  for  both  classes  to  be 
brought  together  on  such  terms.  It  showed 
that  we  of  this  generation  had  not  wholly 
18 


274 


BROTHERHOOD  AND 


forgotten  the  lesson  taught  by  you  who 
fought  to  a finish  the  great  Civil  War.  And 
there  is  no  danger  to  the  future  of  this 
country  just  so  long  as  that  lesson  is  re- 
membered in  all  its  bearings,  civil  and 
military. 

Your  history,  rightly  studied,  will  teach 
us  the  time-worn  truth  that  in  war,  as  in 
peace,  we  need  chiefly  the  every-day,  com- 
monplace virtues,  and,  above  all,  an  unflag- 
ging sense  of  duty.  Yet  in  dwelling  upon 
the  lessons  for  our  ordinary  conduct  which 
we  can  learn  from  your  experience,  we  must 
never  forget  that  it  also  shows  us  what 
should  be  our  model  in  times  that  are  not 
ordinary,  in  the  times  that  try  men’s  souls. 
We  need  to  have  within  us  the  splendid 
heroic  virtues  which  alone  avail  in  the  mighty 
crises,  the  terrible  catastrophes  whereby 
a nation  is  either  purified  as  if  by  fire,  or 
else  consumed  forever  in  the  flames.  When 
you  of  the  Civil  War  sprang  forward  at 
Abraham  Lincoln’s  call  to  put  all  that  life 
holds  dear,  and  life  itself,  in  the  scale  with 
the  nation’s  honor,  you  were  able  to  do  what 
you  did  because  you  had  in  you  not  only  the 
qualities  that  make  good  citizens,  but  in  ad- 
dition the  high  and  intense  traits,  the  deep 
passion  and  enthusiasm,  which  go  to  make 
up  those  heroes  who  are  fit  to  deal  with  iron 
days.  We  can  never  as  a nation  afford  to 


THE  HEROIC  VIRTUES 


276 


forget  that,  back  of  our  reason,  our  under- 
standing, and  our  common  sense,  there  must 
lie,  in  full  strength,  the  tremendous  funda- 
mental passions,  which  are  not  often  needed, 
but  which  every  truly  great  race  must  have 
as  a well-spring  of  motive  in  time  of  need. 

I shall  end  by  quoting  to  you  in  substance 
certain  words  from  a minister  of  the  gospel, 
a most  witty  man,  who  was  also  a philosopher 
and  a man  of  profound  wisdom,  Sydney 
Smith : 

“ The  history  of  the  world  shows  us  that 
men  are  not  to  be  counted  by  their  numbers, 
but  by  the  fire  and  vigor  of  their  passions ; 
by  their  deep  sense  of  injury;  by  their 
memory  of  past  glory;  by  their  eagerness 
for  fresh  fame;  by  their  clear  and  steady 
resolution  of  either  ceasing  to  live,  or  of 
achieving  a particular  object,  which,  when 
it  is  once  formed,  strikes  off  a load  of 
manacles  and  chains,  and  gives  free  space 
to  all  heavenly  and  heroic  feelings.  All 
great  and  extraordinary  actions  come  from 
the  heart.  There  are  seasons  in  human  af- 
fairs when  qualities,  fit  enough  to  conduct 
the  common  business  of  life,  are  feeble  and 
useless,  when  men  must  trust  to  emotion  for 
that  safety  which  reason  at  such  times  can 
never  give.  These  are  the  feelings  which 
led  the  ten  thousand  over  the  Carduchian 
mountains ; these  are  the  feelings  by  which 


276  BROTHERHOOD  A2H)  THE  HEROIC  VIRTUES 


a handful  of  Greeks  broke  in  pieces  the 
power  of  Persia;  and  in  the  fens  of  the 
Dutch  and  in  the  mountains  of  the  Swiss 
these  feelings  defended  happiness  and  re- 
venged the  oppressions  of  man ! God  calls 
all  the  passions  out  in  their  keenness  and 
vigor  for  the  present  safety  of  mankind, 
anger  and  revenge  and  the  heroic  mind,  and 
a readiness  to  suffer — all  the  secret  strength, 
all  the  invisible  array  of  the  feelings— all 
that  nature  has  reserved  for  the  great  scenes 
of  the  world.  When  the  usual  hopes  and 
the  common  aids  of  man  are  all  gone,  no- 
thing remains  under  God  but  those  passions 
which  have  often  proved  the  best  ministers 
of  His  purpose  and  the  surest  protectors  of 
the  world.” 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 

Address  at  Minnesota  State  Fair,  September  2, 1901 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 

9 

IN  his  admirable  series  of  studies  of 
twentieth-century  problems,  Dr.  Lyman 
Abbott  has  pointed  out  that  we  are  a nation  of 
pioneers ; that  the  first  colonists  to  our  shores 
were  pioneers,  and  that  pioneers  selected 
out  from  among  the  descendants  of  these 
early  pioneers,  mingled  with  others  selected 
afresh  from  the  Old  World,  pushed  westward 
into  the  wilderness  and  laid  the  foundations 
for  new  commonwealths.  They  were  men 
of  hope  and  expectation,  of  enterprise  and 
energy ; for  the  men  of  dull  content  or  more 
dull  despair  had  no  part  in  the  great  move- 
ment into  and  across  the  New  World.  Our 
country  has  been  populated  by  pioneers, 
and  therefore  it  has  in  it  more  energy,  more 
enterprise,  more  expansive  power  than  any 
other  in  the  wide  world. 

You  whom  I am  now  addressing  stand 
for  the  most  part  but  one  generation  re- 
moved from  these  pioneers.  You  are  typi- 
cal Americans,  for  you  have  done  the  great, 
the  characteristic,  the  typical  work  of  our 
279 


280 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


American  life.  In  making  homes  and  carv- 
ing out  careers  for  yourselves  and  your 
children,  you  have  built  up  this  State. 
Throughout  our  history  the  success  of  the 
home-maker  has  been  but  another  name  for 
the  upbuilding  of  the  nation.  The  men 
who  with  ax  in  the  forests  and  pick  in  the 
mountains  and  plow  on  the  prairies  pushed 
to  completion  the  dominion  of  our  people 
over  the  American  wilderness  have  given 
the  definite  shape  to  our  nation.  They  have 
shown  the  qualities  of  daring,  endurance, 
and  far-sightedness,  of  eager  desire  for  vic- 
tory and  stubborn  refusal  to  accept  defeat, 
which  go  to  make  up  the  essential  manliness 
of  the  American  character.  Above  all,  they 
have  recognized  in  practical  form  the  funda- 
mental law  of  success  in  American  life — the 
law  of  worthy  work,  the  law  of  high,  reso- 
lute endeavor.  We  have  but  little  room 
among  our  people  for  the  timid,  the  irreso- 
lute, and  the  idle ; and  it  is  no  less  true  that 
there  is  scant  room  in  the  world  at  large  for 
the  nation  with  mighty  thews  that  dares 
not  to  be  great. 

Surely  in  speaking  to  the  sons  of  the  men 
who  actually  did  the  rough  and  hard  and 
infinitely  glorious  work  of  making  the  great 
Northwest  what  it  now  is,  I need  hardly 
insist  upon  the  righteousness  of  this  doc- 
trine. In  your  own  vigorous  lives  you  show 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


281 


by  every  act  bow  scant  is  your  patience 
with  those  who  do  not  see  in  the  life  of  effort 
the  life  supremely  worth  living.  Sometimes 
we  hear  those  who  do  not  work  spoken  of 
with  envy.  Surely  the  wilfully  idle  need 
arouse  in  the  breast  of  a healthy  man  no 
emotion  stronger  than  that  of  contempt — at 
the  outside  no  emotion  stronger  than  angry 
contempt.  The  feeling  of  envy  would  have 
in  it  an  admission  of  inferiority  on  our  part, 
to  which  the  men  who  know  not  the  sterner 
joys  of  life  are  not  entitled.  Poverty  is  a 
bitter  thing;  but  it  is  not  as  bitter  as  the 
existence  of  restless  vacuity  and  physical, 
moral,  and  intellectual  flabbiness,  to  which 
those  doom  themselves  who  elect  to  spend 
all  their  years  in  that  vainest  of  all  vain 
pursuits — the  pursuit  of  mere  pleasure  as  a 
sufficient  end  in  itself.  The  wilfully  idle 
man,  like  the  wilfully  barren  woman,  has  no 
place  in  a sane,  healthy,  and  vigorous  com- 
munity. Moreover,  the  gross  and  hideous 
selfishness  for  which  each  stands  defeats 
even  its  own  miserable  aims.  Exactly  as 
infinitely  the  happiest  woman  is  she  who 
has  borne  and  brought  up  many  healthy  ' 
children,  so  infinitely  the  happiest  man  is  he 
who  has  toiled  hard  and  successfully  in  his 
life-work.  The  work  may  be  done  in  a 
thousand  different  ways — with  the  brain  or 
the  hands,  in  the  study,  the  fi.eld,  or  the 


282 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


workshop — if  it  is  honest  work,  honestly 
done  and  well  worth  doing,  that  is  all  we 
have  a right  to  ask.  Every  father  and 
mother  here,  if  they  are  wise,  will  bring  up 
their  children  not  to  shirk  difficulties,  but  to 
meet  them  and  overcome  them ; not  to  strive 
after  a life  of  ignoble  ease,  but  to  strive  to  do 
their  duty,  first  to  themselves  and  their  fam- 
ilies, and  then  to  the  whole  State ; and  this 
duty  must  inevitably  take  the  shape  of  work 
in  some  form  or  other.  You,  the  sons  of  the 
pioneers,  if  you  are  true  to  your  ancestry, 
must  make  your  lives  as  worthy  as  they 
made  theirs.  They  sought  for  true  success, 
and  therefore  they  did  not  seek  ease.  They 
knew  that  success  comes  only  to  those  who 
lead  the  life  of  endeavor. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  simple  acceptance 
of  this  fundamental  fact  of  American  life, 
this  acknowledgment  that  the  law  of  work 
is  the  fundamental  law  of  our  being,  will 
help  us  to  start  aright  in  facing  not  a few 
of  the  problems  that  confront  us  from  with- 
out and  from  within.  As  regards  internal 
affairs,  it  should  teach  us  the  prime  need  of 
remembering  that,  after  all  has  been  said  and 
done,  the  chief  factor  in  any  man’s  success 
or  failure  must  be  his  own  character — that 
is,  the  sum  of  his  common  sense,  his  courage, 
his  virile  energy  and  capacity.  Nothing  can 
take  the  place  of  this  individual  factor. 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


I do  not  for  a moment  mean  that  much 
cannot  be  done  to  supplement  it.  Besides 
each  one  of  us  working  individually,  all  of  us 
have  got  to  work  together.  We  cannot  pos- 
sibly do  our  best  work  as  a nation  unless  all 
of  us  know  how  to  act  in  combination  as 
well  as  how  to  act  each  individually  for 
himself.  The  acting  in  combination  can 
take  many  forms,  but  of  course  its  most 
effective  form  must  be  when  it  comes  in 
the  shape  of  law — that  is,  of  action  by  the 
community  as  a whole  through  the  law- 
making body. 

But  it  is  not  possible  ever  to  insure  pros- 
perity merely  by  law.  Something  for  good 
can  be  done  by  law,  and  a bad  law  can  do  an 
infinity  of  mischief;  but,  after  all,  the  best 
law  can  only  prevent  wrong  and  injustice, 
and  give  to  the  thrifty,  the  far-seeing,  and 
the  hard-working  a chance  to  exercise  to  best 
advantage  their  special  and  peculiar  abili- 
ties. No  hard-and-fast  rule  can  be  laid 
down  as  to  where  our  legislation  shall  stop 
in  interfering  between  man  and  man,  be- 
tween interest  and  interest.  All  that  can 
be  said  is  that  it  is  highly  undesirable,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  weaken  individual  initia- 
tive, and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  in  a con- 
stantly increasing  number  of  cases  we  shall 
find  it  necessary  in  the  future  to  shackle  cun- 
ning as  in  the  past  we  have  shackled  force. 


284 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


It  is  not  only  highly  desirable  but  necessary 
that  there  should  be  legislation  which  shall 
carefully  shield  the  interests  of  wage-work- 
ers, and  which  shall  discriminate  in  favor  of 
the  honest  and  humane  employer  by  remov- 
ing the  disadvantage  under  which  he  stands 
when  compared  with  unscrupulous  competi- 
tors who  have  no  conscience  and  will  do  right 
only  under  fear  of  punishment. 

Nor  can  legislation  stop  only  with  what 
are  termed  labor  questions.  The  vast  indi- 
vidual and  corporate  fortunes,  the  vast  com- 
binations of  capital,  which  have  marked  the 
development  of  our  industrial  system  create 
new  conditions,  and  necessitate  a change 
from  the  old  attitude  of  the  State  and  the 
nation  toward  property.  It  is  probably  true 
that  the  large  majority  of  the  fortunes  that 
now  exist  in  this  country  have  been  amassed 
not  by  injuring  our  people,  but  as  an  inci- 
dent to  the  conferring  of  great  benefits  upon 
the  community;  and  this,  no  matter  what 
may  have  been  the  conscious  purpose  of 
those  amassing  them.  There  is  but  the 
scantiest  justification  for  most  of  the  outcry 
against  the  men  of  wealth  as  such;  and  it 
ought  to  be  unnecessary  to  state  that  any 
appeal  which  directly  or  indirectly  leads  to 
suspicion  and  hatred  among  ourselves,  which 
tends  to  limit  opportunity,  and  therefore  to 
shut  the  door  of  success  against  poor  men 


NATIONAL  DirriES 


285 


of  talent,  and,  finally,  vrliicli  entails  the  pos- 
sibility of  la'^lessness  and  violence,  is  an 
attack  upon  the  fundamental  properties  of 
American  citizenship.  Our  interests  are  at 
bottom  common ; in  the  long  run  vre  go  up 
or  go  doTvn  together.  Yet  more  and  more 
it  is  evident  that  the  State,  and  if  necessary 
the  nation,  has  got  to  possess  the  right  of 
supervision  and  control  as  regards  the  great 
corporations  which  are  its  creatures;  par- 
ticularly as  regards  the  great  business  com-  * 
binations  which  derive  a portion  of  their 
importance  from  the  existence  of  some  mo- 
nopolistic tendency.  The  right  should  be 
exercised  with  caution  and  self-restraint; 
but  it  should  exist,  so  that  it  may  be  invoked 
if  the  need  arises. 

So  much  for  our  duties,  each  to  himself 
and  each  to  his  neighbor,  within  the  limits 
of  our  own  country.  But  our  country,  as  it 
strides  forward  with  ever-increasing  rapidity 
to  a foremost  place  among  the  world  pow- 
ers, must  necessarily  find,  more  and  more, 
that  it  has  world  duties  also.  There  are 
excellent  people  who  believe  that  we  can 
shirk  these  duties  and  yet  retain  our  self- 
respect  ; but  these  good  people  are  in  error. 
Other  good  people  seek  to  deter  us  from 
treading  the  path  of  hard  but  lofty  duty  by 
bidding  us  remember  that  all  nations  that 
have  achieved  greatness,  that  have  expanded 


286 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


and  played  their  part  as  world  powers,  have 
in  the  end  passed  away.  So  they  have ; and 
so  have  all  others.  The  weak  and  the  sta- 
tionary have  vanished  as  surely  as,  and 
more  rapidly  than,  those  whose  citizens  felt 
within  them  the  lift  that  impels  generous 
souls  to  great  and  noble  effort.  This  is 
only  another  way  of  stating  the  universal 
law  of  death,  which  is  itself  part  of  the  uni- 
versal law  of  life.  The  man  who  works,  the 
man  who  does  great  deeds,  in  the  end  dies 
as  surely  as  the  veriest  idler  who  cumbers 
the  earth’s  surface;  but  he  leaves  behind 
him  the  great  fact  that  he  has  done  his 
work  well.  So  it  is  with  nations.  While 
the  nation  that  has  dared  to  be  great,  that 
has  had  the  will  and  the  power  to  change 
the  destiny  of  the  ages,  in  the  end  must  die, 
yet  no  less  surely  the  nation  that  has  played 
the  part  of  the  weakling  must  also  die ; and 
whereas  the  nation  that  has  done  nothing 
leaves  nothing  behind  it,  the  nation  that  has 
done  a great,  work  really  continues,  though 
in  changed  form,  to  live  forevermore.  The 
Roman  has  passed  away  exactly  as  all  the 
nations  of  antiquity  which  did  not  expand 
when  he  expanded  have  passed  away;  but 
their  very  memory  has  vanished,  while  he 
himself  is  still  a living  force  throughout  the 
wide  world  in  our  entire  civilization  of  to- 
day, and  will  so  continue  through  countless 
generations,  through  untold  ages. 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


287 


It  is  because  we  believe  with  all  our  heart 
and  soul  in  the  greatness  of  this  country, 
because  we  feel  the  thrill  of  hardy  life  in 
our  veins,  and  are  confident  that  to  us  is 
given  the  privilege  of  playing  a leading  part 
in  the  century  that  has  just  opened,  that 
we  hail  with  eager  delight  the  opportunity 
to  do  whatever  task  Providence  may  allot 
us.  We  admit  with  all  sincerity  that  our 
first  duty  is  within  our  own  household ; that 
we  must  not  merely  talk,  but  act,  in  favor  of 
cleanliness  and  decency  and  righteousness, 
in  all  political,  social,  and  civic  matters.  No 
prosperity  and  no  glory  can  save  a nation 
that  is  rotten  at  heart.  We  must  ever  keep 
the  core  of  our  national  being  sound,  and 
see  to  it  that  not  only  our  citizens  in  pri- 
vate life,  but,  above  all,  our  statesmen  in 
public  life,  practise  the  old  commonplace 
virtues  which  from  time  immemorial  have 
lain  at  the  root  of  all  true  national  well- 
being. Yet  while  this  is  our  first  duty,  it  is 
not  our  whole  duty.  Exactly  as  each  man, 
while  doing  first  his  duty  to  his  wife  and 
the  children  within  his  home,  must  yet,  if  he 
hopes  to  amount  to  much,  strive  mightily  in 
the  world  outside  his  home,  so  our  nation, 
while  first  of  all  seeing  to  its  own  domestic 
well-being,  must  not  shrink  from  playing  its 
part  among  the  great  nations  without.  Our 
duty  may  take  many  forms  in  the  future  as 
it  has  taken  many  forms  in  the  past.  Nor 


288 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


is  it  possible  to  lay  down  a hard-and-fast 
rule  for  all  cases.  We  must  ever  face  the 
fact  of  our  shifting  national  needs,  of  the 
always-changing  opportunities  that  present 
themselves.  But  we  may  be  certain  of  one 
thing : whether  we  wish  it  or  not,  we  cannot 
avoid  hereafter  having  duties  to  do  in  the 
face  of  other  nations.  All  that  we  can  do  is 
to  settle  whether  we  shall  perform  these 
duties  well  or  ill. 

Eight  here  let  me  make  as  vigorous  a plea 
as  I know  how  in  favor  of  saying  nothing 
that  we  do  not  mean,  and  of  acting  without 
hesitation  up  to  whatever  we  say.  A good 
many  of  you  are  probably  acquainted  with 
the  old  proverb : “ Speak  softly  and  carry  a 
big  stick— you  will  go  far.”  If  a man  con- 
tinually blusters,  if  he  lacks  civility,  a big 
stick  will  not  save  him  from  trouble ; and 
neither  will  speaking  softly  avail,  if  back  of 
the  softness  there  does  not  lie  strength, 
power.  In  private  life  there  are  few  beings 
more  obnoxious  than  the  man  who  is  always 
loudly  boasting ; and  if  the  boaster  is  not 
prepared  to  back  up  his  words  his  position 
becomes  absolutely  contemptible.  So  it  is 
with  the  nation.  It  is  both  foolish  and  un- 
dignified to  indulge  in  undue  self-glorifi- 
cation, and,  above  all,  in  loose-tongued 
denunciation  of  other  peoples.  Whenever 
on  any  point  we  come  in  contact  with  a 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


289 


foreign  power,  I hope  that  we  shall  always 
strive  to  speak  courteonsly  and  respectfully 
of  that  foreign  power.  Let  us  make  it 
evident  that  we  intend  to  do  justice.  Then 
let  us  make  it  equally  evident  that  we  will 
not  tolerate  injustice  being  done  to  us  in 
return.  Let  us  further  make  it  evident  that 
we  use  no  words  which  we  are  not  prepared 
to  back  up  with  deeds,  and  that  while  our 
speech  is  always  moderate,  we  are  ready 
and  willing  to  make  it  good.  Such  an  atti- 
tude will  be  the  surest  possible  guaranty  of 
that  self-respecting  peace,  the  attainment 
of  which  is  and  must  ever  be  the  prime  aim 
of  a self-governing  people. 

This  is  the  attitude  we  should  take  as  re- 
gards the  Monroe  Doctrine.  There  is  not  the 
least  need  of  blustering  about  it.  Still  less 
should  it  be  used  as  a pretext  for  our  own 
aggrandizement  at  the  expense  of  any  other 
American  state.  But,  most  emphatically,  we 
must  make  it  evident  that  we  intend  on  this 
point  ever  to  maintain  the  old  American  posi- 
tion. Indeed,  it  is  hard  to  understand  how 
any  man  can  take  any  other  position,  now 
that  we  are  all  looking  forward  to  the 
building  of  the  Isthmian  Canal.  The  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  is  not  international  law;  but 
there  is  no  necessity  that  it  should  be.  All 
that  is  needful  is  that  it  should  continue  to 
be  a cardinal  feature  of  American  policy  on 

19 


290 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


this  continent;  and  the  Spanish- American 
states  should,  in  their  own  interests,  cham- 
pion it  as  strongly  as  we  do.  We  do  not  by 
this  doctrine  intend  to  sanction  any  policy 
of  aggression  by  one  American  common- 
wealth at  the  expense  of  any  other,  nor  any 
policy  of  commercial  discrimination  against 
any  foreign  power  whatsoever.  Commer- 
cially, as  far  as  this  doctrine  is  concerned, 
all  we  wish  is  a fair  field  and  no  favor ; but 
if  we  are  wise  we  shall  strenuously  insist 
that  under  no  pretext  whatsoever  shall  there 
be  any  territorial  aggrandizement  on  Ameri- 
can soil  by  any  European  power,  and  this, 
no  matter  what  form  the  territorial  aggran- 
dizement may  take. 

We  most  earnestly  hope  and  believe  that 
the  chance  of  our  having  any  hostile  mili- 
tary complication  with  any  foreign  power 
is  very  small.  But  that  there  will  come  a 
strain,  a jar,  here  and  there,  from  commer- 
cial and  agricultural— that  is,  from  in- 
dustrial— competition,  is  almost  inevitable. 
Here  again  we  have  got  to  remember  that 
our  first  duty  is  to  our  own  people,  and  yet 
that  we  can  best  get  justice  by  doing  jus- 
tice. We  must  continue  the  policy  that  has 
been  so  brilliantly  successful  in  the  past, 
and  so  shape  our  economic  system  as  to 
give  every  advantage  to  the  skill,  energy, 
and  intelligence  of  our  farmers,  merchants. 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


291 


manufacturers,  and  wage-workers ; and  yet 
we  must  also  remember,  in  dealing  with  other 
nations,  that  benefits  must  be  given  where 
benefits  are  sought.  It  is  not  possible  to 
dogmatize  as  to  the  exact  way  of  attaining 
this  end,  for  the  exact  conditions  cannot  be 
foretold.  In  the  long  run,  one  of  our  prime 
needs  is  stability  and  continuity  of  economic 
policy ; and  yet,  through  treaty  or  by  direct 
legislation,  it  may,  at  least  in  certain  cases, 
become  advantageous  to  supplement  our 
present  policy  by  a system  of  reciprocal 
benefit  and  obligation. 

Throughout  a large  part  of  our  national 
career  om*  history  has  been  one  of  expan- 
sion, the  expansion  being  of  different  kinds 
at  different  times.  This  expansion  is  not  a 
matter  of  regret,  but  of  pride.  It  is  vain  to 
tell  a people  as  masterful  as  ours  that  the 
spirit  of  enterprise  is  not  safe.  The  true 
American  has  never  feared  to  run  risks 
when  the  prize  to  be  won  was  of  sufficient 
value.  No  nation  capable  of  self-govern- 
ment, and  of  developing  by  its  own  efforts  a 
sane  and  orderly  civilization,  no  matter  how 
small  it  may  be,  has  anything  to  fear  from 
us.  Our  dealings  with  Cuba  illustrate  this, 
and  should  be  forever  a subject  of  just  na- 
tional pride.  We  speak  in  no  spirit  of  arro- 
gance when  we  state  as  a simple  historic  fact 
that  never  in  recent  times  has  any  great 


292 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


nation  acted  with  such  disinterestedness  as 
we  have  shown  in  Cuba.  We  freed  the 
island  from  the  Spanish  yoke.  We  then 
earnestly  did  our  best  to  help  the  Cubans 
in  the  establishment  of  free  education,  of 
law  and  order,  of  material  prosperity,  of  the 
cleanliness  necessary  to  sanitary  well-being 
in  their  great  cities.  We  did  all  this  at  great 
expense  of  treasure,  at  some  expense  of  life ; 
and  now  we  are  establishing  them  in  a free 
and  independent  commonwealth,  and  have 
asked  in  return  nothing  whatever  save  that 
at  no  time  shall  their  independence  be 
prostituted  to  the  advantage  of  some  foreign 
rival  of  ours,  or  so  as  to  menace  our  well- 
being. To  have  failed  to  ask  this  would 
have  amounted  to  national  stultification  on 
our  part. 

In  the  Philippines  we  have  brought  peace, 
and  we  are  at  this  moment  giving  them 
such  freedom  and  self-government  as  they 
could  never  under  any  conceivable  condi- 
tions have  obtained  had  we  turned  them 
loose  to  sink  into  a welter  of  blood  and 
confusion,  or  to  become  the  prey  of  some 
strong  tyranny  without  or  within.  The 
bare  recital  of  the  facts  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  we  did  our  duty;  and  what  prouder 
title  to  honor  can  a nation  have  than  to 
have  done  its  duty?  We  have  done  our 
duty  to  ourselves,  and  we  have  done  the 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


293 


higlier  duty  of  promoting  the  civilization  of 
mankind.  The  first  essential  of  civilization 
is  law.  Anarchy  is  simply  the  handmaiden 
and  forerunner  of  tyranny  and  despotism. 
Law  and  order  enforced  with  justice  and  by 
strength  lie  at  the  foundations  of  civiliza- 
tion. Law  must  be  based  upon  justice,  else 
it  cannot  stand,  and  it  must  be  enforced 
with  resolute  firmness,  because  weakness  in 
enforcing  it  means  in  the  end  that  there  is 
no  justice  and  no  law,  nothing  but  the  rule 
of  disorderly  and  unscrupulous  strength. 
Without  the  habit  of  orderly  obedience  to 
the  law,  without  the  stern  enforcement  of 
the  laws  at  the  expense  of  those  who  defi- 
antly resist  them,  there  can  be  no  possible 
progress,  moral  or  material,  in  civilization. 
There  can  be  no  weakening  of  the  law-abid- 
ing spirit  here  at  home,  if  we  are  perma- 
nently to  succeed ; and  just  as  little  can  we 
afford  to  show  weakness  abroad.  Lawless- 
ness and  anarchy  were  put  down  in  the 
Philippines  as  a prerequisite  to  introducing 
the  reign  of  justice. 

Barbarism  has,  and  can  have,  no  place  in 
a civilized  world.  It  is  our  duty  toward  the 
people  living  in  barbarism  to  see  that  they 
are  freed  from  their  chains,  and  we  can  free 
them  only  by  destroying  barbarism  itself. 
The  missionary,  the  merchant,  and  the  sol- 
dier may  each  have  to  play  a part  in  this 


294 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


destruction,  and  in  the  consequent  uplifting 
of  the  people.  Exactly  as  it  is  the  duty  of 
a civilized  power  scrupulously  to  respect  the 
rights  of  all  weaker  civilized  powers  and 
gladly  to  help  those  who  are  struggling 
toward  civilization,  so  it  is  its  duty  to  put 
down  savagery  and  barbarism.  As  in  such  a 
work  human  instruments  must  be  used,  and 
as  human  instruments  are  imperfect,  this 
means  that  at  times  there  will  be  injustice ; 
that  at  times  merchant  or  soldier,  or  even 
missionary,  may  do  wrong.  Let  us  instantly 
condemn  and  rectify  such  wrong  when  it 
occurs,  and  if  possible  punish  the  wrong- 
doer. But  shame,  thrice  shame  to  us,  if  we 
are  so  foolish  as  to  make  such  occasional 
wrong-doing  an  excuse  for  failing  to  per- 
form a great  and  righteous  task.  Not  only 
in  our  own  land,  but  throughout  the  world, 
throughout  all  history,  the  advance  of  civi- 
lization has  been  of  incalculable  benefit  to 
mankind,  and  those  through  whom  it  has 
advanced  deserve  the  highest  honor.  All 
honor  to  the  missionary,  all  honor  to  the 
soldier,  all  honor  to  the  merchant  who  now 
in  our  own  day  have  done  so  much  to  bring 
light  into  the  world’s  dark  places. 

Let  me  insist  again,  for  fear  of  possible 
misconstruction,  upon  the  fact  that  our  duty 
is  twofold,  and  that  we  must  raise  others 
while  we  are  benefiting  ourselves.  In  bring- 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


295 


ing  order  to  the  Philippines,  our  soldiers 
added  a new  page  to  the  honor-roll  of  Amer- 
ican history,  and  they  incalculably  benefited 
the  islanders  themselves.  Under  the  wise 
administration  of  Governor  Taft  the  islands 
now  enjoy  a peace  and  hberty  of  which  they 
have  hitherto  never  even  dreamed.  But  this 
peace  and  liberty  under  the  law  must  be  sup- 
plemented by  material,  by  industrial  develop- 
ment. Every  encouragement  should  be  given 
to  their  commercial  development,  to  the  in- 
troduction of  American  industries  and  prod- 
ucts ; not  merely  because  this  will  be  a good 
thing  for  our  people,  but  infinitely  more  be- 
cause it  wHl  be  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the 
people  in  the  Philippines. 

We  shall  make  mistakes ; and  if  we  let  these 
mistakes  frighten  us  from  our  work  we  shall 
show  ourselves  weaklings.  Half  a century 
ago  Minnesota  and  the  two  Dakotas  were 
Indian  hunting-grounds.  We  committed 
plenty  of  blunders,  and  now  and  then  worse 
than  blunders,  in  our  dealings  with  the  In- 
dians. But  who  does  not  admit  at  the  pres- 
ent day  that  we  were  right  in  wresting  from 
barbarism  and  adding  to  civilization  the 
territory  out  of  which  we  have  made  these 
beautiful  States  1 And  now  we  are  civiliz- 
ing the  Indian  and  putting  him  on  a level  to 
which  he  could  never  have  attained  under 
the  old  conditions. 


296 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


In  the  Philippines  let  us  remember  that 
the  spirit  and  not  the  mere  form  of  govern- 
ment is  the  essential  matter.  The  Tagalogs 
have  a hundredfold  the  freedom  under  us 
that  they  would  have  if  we  had  abandoned 
the  islands.  We  are  not  trying  to  subjugate 
a people ; we  are  trying  to  develop  them  and 
make  them  a law-abiding,  industrious,  and 
educated  people,  and  we  hope  ultimately 
a self-governing  people.  In  short,  in  the 
work  we  have  done  we  are  but  carrying  out 
the  true  principles  of  our  democracy.  We 
work  in  a spirit  of  self-respect  for  ourselves 
and  of  good  will  toward  others,  in  a spirit 
of  love  for  and  of  infinite  faith  in  man- 
kind. We  do  not  blindly  refuse  to  face  the 
evils  that  exist,  or  the  shortcomings  inher- 
ent in  humanity;  but  across  blundering 
and  shirking,  across  selfishness  and  mean- 
ness of  motive,  across  short-sightedness  and 
cowardice,  we  gaze  steadfastly  toward  the 
far  horizon  of  golden  triumph.  If  you  will 
study  our  past  history  as  a nation  you  will 
see  we  have  made  many  blunders  and  have 
been  guilty  of  many  shortcomings,  and  yet 
that  we  have  always  in  the  end  come  out 
victorious  because  we  have  refused  to  be 
daunted  by  blunders  and  defeats,  have  rec- 
ognized them,  but  have  persevered  in  spite  of 
them.  So  it  must  be  in  the  future.  We  gird 
up  our  loins  as  a nation,  with  the  stern  pur- 


NATIONAL  DUTIES 


297 


pose  to  play  our  part  manfully  in  winning 
the  ultimate  triumph ; and  therefore  we  turn 
scornfully  aside  from  the  paths  of  mere  ease 
and  idleness,  and  with  unfaltering  steps 
tread  the  rough  road  of  endeavor,  smiting 
down  the  wrong  and  battling  for  the  right, 
as  G-reatheart  smote  and  battled  in  Bunyan’s 
immortal  story. 


1 

> 

J 

i 

i 


’■  ',;4 


THE  LABOE  QUESTION 


At  the  Chicago  Laboe  Day  Picnic,  Septembke  3, 1900 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


9 

By  far  the  greatest  problem,  the  most  far- 
reaching  in  its  stupendous  importance, 
is  that  problem,  or  rather  that  group  of 
problems,  which  we  have  grown  to  speak  of 
as  the  labor  question.  It  must  be  always  a 
peculiar  privilege  for  any  thoughtful  pub- 
lic man  to  address  a body  of  men  predomi- 
nantly composed  of  wage-workers,  for  the 
foundation  of  our  whole  social  structure 
rests  upon  the  material  and  moral  well-being, 
the  intelligence,  the  foresight,  the  sanity,  the 
sense  of  duty,  and  the  wholesome  patriotism 
of  the  wage-worker.  This  is  doubly  the  case 
now ; for,  in  addition  to  each  man’s  indi- 
vidual action,  you  have  learned  the  great 
lesson  of  acting  in  combination.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  overestimate  the  far-reach- 
ing influences  of,  and,  on  the  whole,  the 
amount  of  good  done  through  your  associa- 
tions. 

In  addressing  you,  the  one  thing  that  I 
wish  to  avoid  is  any  mere  glittering  gener- 
ality, any  mere  high-sounding  phraseology, 

301 


302 


THE  LABOE  QUESTION 


and,  above  all,  any  appeal  whatsoever  made 
in  a demagogic  spirit,  or  in  a spirit  of  mere 
emotionalism.  When  we  come  to  dealing 
with  our  social  and  industrial  needs,  reme- 
dies, rights  and  wrongs,  a ton  of  oratory  is 
not  worth  an  ounce  of  hard-headed,  kindly 
common  sense. 

The  fundamental  law  of  healthy  political 
life  in  this  great  republic  is  that  each  man 
shall  in  deed,  and  not  merely  in  word,  be 
treated  strictly  on  his  worth  as  a man ; that 
each  shall  do  full  justice  to  his  fellow,  and 
in  return  shall  exact  full  justice  from  him. 
Each  group  of  men  has  its  special  interests ; 
and  yet  the  higher,  the  broader  and  deeper 
interests  are  those  which  apply  to  all  men 
alike ; for  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  in  Ameri- 
can citizenship,  when  rightly  understood  and 
rightly  applied,  is  more  important  than  aught 
else.  Let  us  scrupulously  guard  the  special 
interests  of  the  wage-worker,  the  farmer,  the 
manufacturer,  and  the  merchant,  giving  to 
each  man  his  due  and  also  seeing  that  he 
does  not  wrong  his  fellows ; but  let  us  keep 
ever  clearly  before  our  minds  the  great  fact 
that,  where  the  deepest  chords  are  touched, 
the  interests  of  all  are  alike  and  must  be 
guarded  alike. 

We  must  beware  of  any  attempt  to  make 
hatred  in  any  form  the  basis  of  action. 
Most  emphatically  each  of  us  needs  to  stand 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


303 


up  for  his  own  rights;  all  men  and  all 
groups  of  men  are  bound  to  retain  their 
self-respect,  and,  demanding  this  same  re- 
spect from  others,  to  see  that  they  are  not 
injured  and  that  they  have  secured  to  them 
the  fullest  liberty  of  thought  and  action. 
But  to  feed  fat  a grudge  against  others, 
while  it  may  or  may  not  harm  them,  is  sure 
in  the  long  run  to  do  infinitely  greater  harm 
to  the  man  himseK. 

The  more  a healthy  American  sees  of 
his  fellow- Americans  the  greater  grows  his 
conviction  that  our  chief  troubles  come  from 
mutual  misunderstanding,  from  failure  to 
appreciate  one  another’s  point  of  view.  In 
other  words,  the  great  need  is  fellow-feel- 
ing, sympathy,  brotherhood;  and  all  this 
naturally  comes  by  association.  It  is,  there- 
fore, of  vital  importance  that  there  should 
be  such  association.  The  most  serious  dis- 
advantage in  city  life  is  the  tendency  of 
each  man  to  keep  isolated  in  his  own  little 
set,  and  to  look  upon  the  vast  majority  of 
his  fellow-citizens  indifferently,  so  that  he 
soon  comes  to  forget  that  they  have  the 
same  red  blood,  the  same  loves  and  hates,  the 
same  likes  and  dislikes,  the  same  desire  for 
good,  and  the  same  perpetual  tendency,  ever 
needing  to  be  checked  and  corrected,  to 
lapse  from  good  into  evil.  If  only  our 
people  can  be  thrown  together,  where  they 


304= 


THE  LABOE  QUESTION 


act  on  a common  ground  with  the  same 
motives,  and  have  the  same  objects,  we  need 
not  have  much  fear  of  their  failing  to  ac- 
quire a genuine  respect  for  one  another; 
and  with  such  respect  there  must  finally 
come  fair  play  for  all. 

The  first  time  I ever  labored  alongside  of 
and  got  thrown  into  intimate  companion- 
ship with  men  who  were  mighty  men  of 
their  hands  was  in  the  cattle  country  of  the 
Northwest.  I soon  grew  to  have  an  im- 
mense liking  and  respect  for  my  associates, 
and  as  I knew  them,  and  did  not  know  simi- 
lar workers  in  other  parts  of  the  country, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  the  ranch-owner  was  a 
great  deal  better  than  any  Eastern  business 
man,  and  that  the  cow-puncher  stood  on  a 
corresponding  altitude  compared  with  any  of 
his  brethren  in  the  East. 

Well,  after  a little  while  I got  thrown  into 
close  relations  with  the  farmers,  and  it  did 
not  take  long  before  I had  moved  them  up 
alongside  of  my  beloved  cowmen ; and  I made 
up  my  mind  that  they  really  formed  the 
backbone  of  the  land.  Then,  because  of  cer- 
tain circumstances,  I was  thrown  into  inti- 
mate contact  with  railroad  men;  and  I 
gradually  came  to  the  conclusion  that  these 
railroad  men  were  about  the  finest  citizens 
there  were  anywhere  around.  Then,  in  the 
course  of  some  ofibcial  work,  I was  thrown 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


305 


into  close  contact  witli  a number  of  the  car- 
penters, blacksmiths,  and  men  in  the  build- 
ing trades,  that  is,  skilled  mechanics  of  a 
high  order,  and  it  was  not  long  before  I had 
them  on  the  same  pedestal  with  the  others. 
By  that  time  it  began  to  dawn  on  me  that 
the  diif erence  was  not  in  the  men  but  in  my 
own  point  of  view,  and  that  if  any  man  is 
thrown  into  close  contact  with  any  large 
body  of  our  fellow-citizens  it  is  apt  to  be 
the  man’s  own  fault  if  he  does  not  grow  to 
feel  for  them  a very  hearty  regard  and, 
moreover,  grow  to  understand  that,  on  the 
great  questions  that  lie  at  the  root  of  human 
well-being,  he  and  they  feel  alike. 

Our  prime  need  as  a nation  is  that  every 
American  should  understand  and  work  with 
his  fellow-citizens,  getting  into  touch  with 
them,  so  that  by  actual  contact  he  may  learn 
that  fundamentally  he  and  they  have  the 
same  interests,  needs,  and  aspirations. 

Of  course  different  sections  of  the  com- 
munity have  different  needs.  The  gravest 
questions  that  are  before  us,  the  questions 
that  are  for  all  time,  affect  us  all  alike.  But 
there  are  separate  needs  that  affect  sepa- 
rate groups  of  men,  just  as  there  are  sepa- 
rate needs  that  affect  each  individual  man. 
It  is  just  as  unwise  to  forget  the  one  fact  as 
it  is  to  forget  the  other.  The  specialization 

of  our  modern  industrial  life,  its  high  devel- 
20 


306 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


opment  and  complex  character,  means  a 
corresponding  specialization  in  needs  and 
interests.  While  we  should,  so  long  as  we 
can  safely  do  so,  give  to  each  individual  the 
largest  possible  liberty,  a liberty  which  ne- 
cessarily includes  initiative  and  responsibil- 
ity, yet  we  must  not  hesitate  to  interfere 
whenever  it  is  clearly  seen  that  harm  comes 
from  excessive  individualism.  We  cannot 
afford  to  be  empirical  one  way  or  the  other. 
In  the  country  districts  the  surroundings  are 
such  that  a man  can  usually  work  out  his 
own  fate  by  himself  to  the  best  advantage. 
In  our  cities,  or  where  men  congregate  in 
masses,  it  is  often  necessary  to  work  in  com- 
bination, that  is,  through  associations ; and 
here  it  is  that  we  can  see  the  great  good 
conferred  by  labor  organizations,  by  trade- 
unions.  Of  course,  if  managed  unwisely,  the 
very  power  of  such  a union  or  organization 
makes  it  capable  of  doing  much  harm ; but, 
on  the  whole,  it  would  be  hard  to  overesti- 
mate the  good  these  organizations  have  done 
in  the  past,  and  still  harder  to  estimate  the 
good  they  can  do  in  the  future  if  handled 
with  resolution,  forethought,  honesty,  and 
sanity. 

It  is  not  possible  to  lay  down  a hard-and- 
fast  rule,  logically  perfect,  as  to  when  the 
State  shall  interfere,  and  when  the  individual 
must  be  left  unhampered  and  unhelped. 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


307 


We  have  exactly  the  same  right  to  regu- 
late the  conditions  of  life  and  work  in  fac- 
tories and  tenement-houses  that  we  have  to 
regulate  fire-escapes  and  the  like  in  other 
houses.  In  certain  communities  the  exis- 
tence of  a thoroughly  efficient  department 
of  factory  inspection  is  just  as  essential  as 
the  estabhshment  of  a fire  department. 
How  far  we  shall  go  in  regulating  the  hours 
of  labor,  or  the  liabilities  of  employers,  is  a 
matter  of  expediency,  and  each  case  must  be 
determined  on  its  own  merits,  exactly  as  it 
is  a matter  of  expediency  to  determine  what 
so-called  “public  utilities”  the  community 
shall  itself  own  and  what  ones  it  shall  leave 
to  private  or  corporate  ownership,  securing 
to  itself  merely  the  right  to  regulate.  Some- 
times one  course  is  expedient,  sometimes  the 
other. 

In  my  own  State  during  the  last  half- 
dozen  years  we  have  made  a number  of 
notable  strides  in  labor  legislation,  and,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  the  laws  have  worked 
well.  This  is,  of  course,  partly  because  we 
have  not  tried  to  do  too  much  and  have  pro» 
ceeded  cautiously,  feeling  our  way,  and, 
while  always  advancing,  yet  taking  each 
step  in  advance  only  when  we  were  satisfied 
that  the  step  already  taken  was  in  the  right 
direction.  To  invite  reaction  by  unregulated 
zeal  is  never  wise,  and  is  sometimes  fatal. 


308 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION' 


In  New  York  our  action  has  been  along 
two  lines.  In  the  first  place,  we  determined 
that  as  an  employer  of  labor  the  State 
should  set  a good  example  to  other  em- 
ployers. We  do  not  intend  to  permit  the 
people’s  money  to  be  squandered  or  to  tol- 
erate any  work  that  is  not  the  best.  But 
we  think  that,  while  rigidly  insisting  upon 
good  work,  we  should  see  that  there  is 
fair  play  in  return.  Accordingly,  we  have 
adopted  an  eight-hour  law  for  the  State  em- 
ployees and  for  all  contractors  who  do  State 
work,  and  we  have  also  adopted  a law  re- 
quiring that  the  fair  market  rate  of  wages 
shall  be  given.  I am  glad  to  say  that  both 
measures  have  so  far,  on  the  whole,  worked 
well.  Of  course  there  have  been  individual 
difficulties,  mostly  where  the  work  is  inter- 
mittent, as,  for  instance,  among  lock-tenders 
on  the  canals,  where  it  is  very  difficult  to 
define  what  eight  hours’  work  means.  But, 
on  the  whole,  the  result  has  been  good.  The 
practical  experiment  of  working  men  for 
'*  eight  hours  has  been  advantageous  to  the 
State.  Poor  work  is  always  dear,  whether 
poorly  paid  or  not,  and  good  work  is  always 
well  worth  having ; and  as  a mere  question  of 
expediency,  aside  even  from  the  question  of 
humanity,  we  find  that  we  can  obtain  the  best 
work  by  paying  fair  wages  and  permitting 
the  work  to  go  on  only  for  a reasonable  time^ 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


309 


The  other  side  of  our  labor  legislation  has 
been  that  affecting  the  wage-workers  who  do 
not  work  for  the  State.  Here  we  have  acted 
in  three  different  ways : through  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  through  the  Board  of 
Mediation  and  Arbitration,  and  through  the 
Department  of  Factory  Inspection. 

During  the  last  two  years  the  Board  of 
Mediation  and  Arbitration  have  been  espe- 
cially successful.  Not  only  have  they  suc- 
ceeded in  settling  many  strikes  after  they 
were  started,  but  they  have  succeeded  in 
preventing  a much  larger  number  of  strikes 
before  they  got  fairly  under  way.  Where 
possible  it  is  always  better  to  mediate  be- 
fore the  strike  begins  than  to  try  to  arbi- 
trate when  the  fight  is  on  and  both  sides 
have  grown  stubborn  and  bitter. 

The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  has  done 
more  than  merely  gather  the  statistics,  for 
by  keeping  in  close  touch  with  all  the  lead- 
ing labor  interests  it  has  kept  them  informed 
on  countless  matters  that  were  really  of  vital 
concern  to  them.  Incidentally,  one  pleasing 
feature  of  the  work  of  this  bureau  has  been 
the  steady  upward  tendency  shown  during 
the  last  four  years  both  in  amount  of  wages 
received  and  in  the  quantity  and  steadiness 
of  employment.  No  other  man  has  benefited 
so  much  as  the  wage-worker  by  the  growth 
in  prosperity  during  these  years. 


310 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


The  Factory  Inspection  Department  deals 
chiefly,  of  course,  with  conditions  in  great 
cities.  One  very  important  phase  of  its 
work  during  the  last  two  years  has  been  the 
enforcement  of  the  anti-sweat-shop  law, 
which  is  primarily  designed  to  do  away  with 
the  tenement-house  factory.  The  condi- 
tions of  life  in  some  of  the  congested  tene- 
ment-house districts,  notably  in  New  York 
City,  had  become  such  as  to  demand  action 
by  the  State.  As  with  other  reforms,  in 
order  to  make  it  stable  and  permanent,  it  had 
to  be  gradual.  It  proceeded  by  evolution, 
not  revolution.  But  progress  has  been 
steady,  and  wherever  needed  it  has  been 
radical.  Much  remains  to  be  done,  but  the 
condition  of  the  dwellers  in  the  congested 
districts  has  been  markedly  improved,  to  the 
great  benefit  not  only  of  themselves,  but  of 
the  whole  community. 

A word  on  the  general  question.  In  the 
first  place,  in  addressing  an  audience  like 
this  I do  not  have  to  say  that  the  law  of  life 
is  work,  and  that  work  in  itself,  so  far  from 
being  a hardship,  is  a great  blessing,  pro- 
vided, always,  it  is  carried  on  under  condi- 
tions which  preserve  a man’s  self-respect 
and  which  allow  him  to  develop  his  own 
character  and  rear  his  children  so  that  he 
and  they,  as  well  as  the  whole  community 
of  which  he  and  they  are  part,  may  steadily 


THE  LABOE  QUESTION 


311 


move  onward  and  upward.  The  idler,  rich 
or  poor,  is  at  best  a useless  and  is  generally 
a noxious  member  of  the  community.  To 
whom  much  has  been  given,  from  him  much 
is  rightfully  expected,  and  a heavy  burden 
of  responsibility  rests  upon  the  man  of 
means  to  justify  by  his  actions  the  social 
conditions  which  have  rendered  it  possible 
for  him  or  his  forefathers  to  accumulate  and 
to  keep  the  property  he  enjoys.  He  is  not 
to  be  excused  if  he  does  not  render  full  * 
measure  of  service  to  the  State  and  to  the 
community  at  large.  There  are  many  ways 
in  which  this  service  can  be  rendered,— in 
art,  in  literature,  in  philanthropy,  as  a 
statesman,  as  a soldier, — but  in  some  way  he 
is  in  honor  bound  to  render  it,  so  that  bene- 
fit may  accrue  to  his  brethren  who  have 
been  less  favored  by  fortune  than  he  has 
been.  In  short,  he  must  work,  and  work 
not  only  for  himself,  but  for  others.  If  he 
does  not  work,  he  fails  not  only  in  his  duty 
to  the  rest  of  the  community,  but  he  fails 
signally  in  his  duty  to  himself.  There  is  no 
need  of  envying  the  idle.  Ordinarily,  we 
can  afford  to  treat  them  with  impatient 
contempt;  for  when  they  fail  to  do  their 
duty  they  fail  to  get  from  life  the  highest 
and  keenest  pleasure  that  life  can  give. 

To  do  our  duty — that  is  the  summing 
up  of  the  whole  matter.  We  must  do 


312 


THE  LABOE  QUESTION 


our  duty  by  ourselves  and  we  must  do  our 
duty  by  our  neighbors.  Every  good  citi- 
zen, whatever  his  condition,  owes  his  first 
service  to  those  who  are  nearest  to  him, 
who  are  dependent  upon  him,  to  his  wife 
and  his  children ; next  he  owes  his  duty  to 
his  fellow-citizens,  and  this  duty  he  must 
perform  both  to  his  individual  neighbor  and 
to  the  State,  which  is  simply  a form  of  expres- 
sion for  all  his  neighbors  combined.  He  must 
keep  his  self-respect  and  exact  the  respect 
of  others.  It  is  eminently  wise  and  proper 
to  strive  for  such  leisure  in  our  lives  as  will 
give  a chance  for  self-improvement ; but  woe 
to  the  man  who  seeks,  or  trains  up  his  chil- 
dren to  seek,  idleness  instead  of  the  chance 
to  do  good  work.  No  worse  wrong  can  be 
done  by  a man  to  his  children  than  to  teach 
them  to  go  through  life  endeavoring  to  shirk 
difficulties  instead  of  meeting  them  and 
overcoming  them.  You  men  here  in  the 
West  have  built  up  this  country  not  by 
seeking  to  avoid  work,  but  by  doing  it  well ; 
not  by  flinching  from  every  difficulty,  but 
by  triumphing  over  each  as  it  arose  and 
making  out  of  it  a stepping-stone  to  further 
triumph. 

We  must  all  learn  the  two  lessons— the 
lesson  of  self-help  and  the  lesson  of  giving 
help  to  and  receiving  help  from  our  brother. 
There  is  not  a man  of  us  who  does  not 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


313 


sometimes  slip,  who  does  not  sometimes 
need  a helping  hand ; and  woe  to  him  who, 
when  the  chance  comes,  fails  to  stretch  out 
that  helping  hand.  Yet,  though  each  man 
can  and  ought  thus  to  be  helped  at  times, 
he  is  lost  beyond  redemption  if  he  becomes 
so  dependent  upon  outside  help  that  he  feels 
that  his  own  exertions  are  secondary.  Any 
man  at  times  will  stumble,  and  it  is  then  our 
duty  to  lift  him  up  and  set  him  on  his  feet 
again ; but  no  man  can  be  permanently  car- 
ried, for  if  he  expects  to  be  carried  he  shows 
that  he  is  not  worth  carrying. 

Before  us  loom  industrial  problems  vast 
in  their  importance  and  their  complexity. 
The  last  half-centmy  has  been  one  of  extraor- 
dinary social  and  industrial  development. 
The  changes  have  been  far-reaching ; some 
of  them  for  good,  and  some  of  them  for  evil. 
It  is  not  given  to  the  wisest  of  us  to  see 
into  the  future  with  absolute  clearness.  No 
man  can  be  certain  that  he  has  found  the 
entire  solution  of  this  infinitely  great  and 
intricate  problem,  and  yet  each  man  of  us,  if 
he  would  do  his  duty,  must  strive  manfully 
so  far  as  in  him  lies  to  help  bring  about  that 
solution.  It  is  not  as  yet  possible  to  say  what 
shall  be  the  exact  limit  of  influence  allowed 
the  State,  or  what  limit  shall  be  set  to  that 
right  of  individual  initiative  so  dear  to  the 
hearts  of  the  American  people.  AU  we  can 


314 


THE  LABOE  QUESTION 


say  is  that  the  need  has  been  shown  on  the 
one  hand  for  action  by  the  people,  in  their 
collective  capacity  through  the  State,  in 
many  matters ; that  in  other  matters  much 
can  be  done  by  associations  of  different 
groups  of  individuals,  as  in  trade-unions 
and  similar  organizations ; and  that  in  other 
matters  it  remains  now  as  true  as  ever  that 
final  success  will  be  for  the  man  who  trusts 
in  the  struggle  only  to  his  cool  head,  his 
brave  heart,  and  his  strong  right  arm. 
There  are  spheres  in  which  the  State  can 
properly  act,  and  spheres  in  which  a free 
field  must  be  given  to  individual  initiative. 

Though  the  conditions  of  life  have  grown 
so  puzzling  in  their  complexity,  though  the 
changes  have  been  so  vast,  yet  we  may  re- 
main absolutely  sure  of  one  thing,  that  now, 
as  ever  in  the  past,  and  as  it  ever  will  be  in 
the  future,  there  can  be  no  substitute  for  the 
elemental  virtues,  for  the  elemental  qualities 
to  which  we  allude  when  we  speak  of  a man 
as  not  only  a good  man  but  as  emphatically 
a man.  We  can  build  up  the  standard  of 
individual  citizenship  and  individual  well- 
being, we  can  raise  the  national  standard 
and  make  it  what  it  can  and  shall  be  made, 
only  by  each  of  us  steadfastly  keeping  in 
mind  that  there  can  be  no  substitute  for  the 
world-old,  humdrum,  commonplace  qualities 
of  truth,  justice  and  courage,  thrift,  industry. 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


315 


common  sense,  and  genuine  sympathy  with 
and  fellow-feeling  for  others.  The  nation  is 
the  aggregate  of  the  individuals  composing 
it,  and  each  individual  American  ever  raises 
the  nation  higher  when  he  so  conducts  him- 
self as  to  wrong  no  man,  to  suffer  no  wrong 
from  others,  and  to  show  both  his  sturdy 
capacity  for  self-help  and  his  readiness  to 
extend  a helping  hand  to  the  neighbor  sink- 
ing under  a burden  too  heavy  for  him  to 
bear. 

The  one  fact  which  all  of  us  need  to  keep 
steadfastly  before  our  eyes  is  the  need  that 
performance  should  square  with  promise  if 
good  work  is  to  be  done,  whether  in  the  in- 
dustrial or  in  the  political  world.  Nothing 
does  more  to  promote  mental  dishonesty  and 
moral  insincerity  than  the  habit  either  of 
promising  the  impossible,  or  of  demanding 
the  performance  of  the  impossible,  or,  finally, 
of  failing  to  keep  a promise  that  has  been 
made ; and  it  makes  not  the  slightest  differ- 
ence whether  it  is  a promise  made  on  the 
stump  or  off  the  stump.  Eemember  that 
there  are  two  sides  to  the  wrong  thus  com- 
mitted. There  is,  first,  the  wrong  of  failing 
to  keep  a promise  made,  and,  in  the  next 
place,  there  is  the  wrong  of  demanding  the 
impossible,  and  therefore  forcing  or  per- 
mitting weak  or  unscrupulous  men  to  make 
a promise  which  they  either  know,  or  should 


316 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


know,  cannot  be  kept.  No  small  part  of 
our  troubles  in  dealing  with  many  of  the 
gravest  social  questions,  such  as  the  so-called 
labor  question,  the  trust  question,  and  others 
like  them,  arises  from  these  two  attitudes. 
We  can  do  a great  deal  when  we  undertake, 
soberly,  to  do  the  possible.  When  we  un- 
dertake the  impossible,  we  too  often  fail  to 
do  anything  at  all.  The  success  of  the  law 
for  the  taxation  of  franchises  recently  en- 
acted in  New  York  State,  a measure  which 
has  resulted  in  putting  upon  the  assessment 
books  nearly  $200,000,000  worth  of  property 
which  had  theretofore  escaped  taxation,  is 
an  illustration  of  how  much  can  be  accom- 
plished when  effort  is  made  along  sane  and 
sober  lines,  with  care  not  to  promise  the 
impossible  but  to  make  performance  square 
with  promise,  and  with  insistence  on  the  fact 
that  honesty  is  never  one-sided,  and  that  in 
dealing  with  corporations  it  is  necessary 
both  to  do  to  them  and  to  exact  from  them 
full  and  complete  justice.  The  success  of 
this  effort,  made  in  a resolute  but  also  a 
temperate  and  reasonable  spirit,  shows  what 
can  be  done  when  such  a problem  is  ap- 
proached in  a sound  and  healthy  manner. 
It  offers  a striking  contrast  to  the  complete 
breakdown  of  the  species  of  crude  and  vio- 
lent anti-trust  legislation  which  has  been 
so  often  attempted,  and  which  has  always 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


317 


failed,  because  of  its  very  crudeness  and 
violence,  to  make  any  impression  upon  the 
real  and  dangerous  evils  which  have  excited 
such  just  popular  resentment. 

I thank  you  for  listening  to  me.  I have 
come  here  to-day  not  to  preach  to  you,  but 
partly  to  tell  you  how  these  matters  look 
and  seem  to  me,  and  partly  to  set  forth  cer- 
tain facts  which  seem  to  me  to  show  the 
essential  community  that  there  is  among  all 
of  us  who  strive  in  good  faith  to  do  our  duty 
as  American  citizens.  No  man  can  do  his 
duty  who  does  not  work,  and  the  work  may 
take  many  different  shapes,  mental  and  phys- 
ical ; but  of  this  you  can  rest  assured,  that 
this  work  can  be  done  well  for  the  nation 
only  when  each  of  us  approaches  his  separate 
task,  not  only  with  the  determination  to  do 
it,  but  with  the  knowledge  that  his  fellow, 
when  he  in  his  turn  does  his  task,  has  fun- 
damentally the  same  rights  and  the  same 
duties,  and  that  while  each  must  work  for 
himself,  yet  each  must  also  work  for  the 
common  welfare  of  all. 

On  the  whole,  we  shall  all  go  up  or  go 
down  together.  Some  may  go  up  or  go  down 
further  than  others,  but,  disregarding  special 
exceptions,  the  rule  is  that  we  must  all  share 
in  common  something  of  whatever  adversity 
or  whatever  prosperity  is  in  store  for  the 
nation  as  a whole.  In  the  long  run  each 


318 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION 


section  of  tlie  community  will  rise  or  fall  as 
the  community  rises  or  falls.  If  hard  times 
come  to  the  nation,  whether  as  the  result  of 
natural  causes  or  because  they  are  invited 
by  our  own  folly,  all  of  us  will  suffer.  Cer- 
tain of  us  will  suffer  more,  and  others  less, 
but  all  will  suffer  somewhat.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  under  Providence,  our  own  en- 
ergy and  good  sense  bring  prosperity  to 
us,  all  will  share  in  that  prosperity.  We 
will  not  all  share  alike,  but  something  each 
one  of  us  will  get.  Let  us  strive  to  make 
the  conditions  of  life  such  that  as  nearly  as 
possible  each  man  shall  receive  the  share  to 
which  he  is  honestly  entitled  and  no  more ; 
and  let  us  remember  at  the  same  time  that 
our  efforts  must  be  to  build  up,  rather  than 
to  strike  down,  and  that  we  can  best  help 
ourselves,  not  at  the  expense  of  others,  but 
by  heartily  working  with  them  for  the  com- 
mon good  of  each  and  all. 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


Addeess  bepokb  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association. 
Carnegie  Haut.,  New  York,  December  30,  1900 


V 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

9 


IT  is  a peculiar  pleasure  to  me  to  come 
before  you  to-night  to  greet  you  and  to 
bear  testimony  to  the  great  good  that  has 
been  done  by  these  Young  Men’s  and  Young 
Women’s  Christian  Associations  throughout 
the  United  States.  More  and  more  we  are 
getting  to  recognize  the  law  of  combination. 
This  is  true  of  many  phases  in  our  indus- 
trial life,  and  it  is  equally  true  of  the  world 
of  philanthropic  effort.  Nowhere  is  it,  or 
will  it  ever  be,  possible  to  supplant  indi- 
vidual effort,  individual  initiative;  but  in 
addition  to  this  there  must  be  work  in 
combination.  More  and  more  this  is  recog- 
nized as  true  not  only  in  charitable  work 
proper,  but  in  that  best  form  of  philan- 
thropic endeavor  where  we  all  do  good  to 
ourselves  by  all  joining  together  to  do  good 
to  one  another.  This  is  exactly  what  is 
done  in  your  associations. 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  are  several  rea- 
sons why  you  are  entitled  to  especial  recog- 
nition from  all  who  are  interested  in  the 

321 


21 


322 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


betterment  of  our  American  social  system. 
First  and  foremost,  your  organization  recog- 
nizes the  vital  need  of  brotherhood,  the  most 
vital  of  all  our  needs  here  in  this  great 
republic.  The  existence  of  a Young  Men’s 
or  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  is 
certain  proof  that  some  people  at  least 
recognize  in  practical  shape  the  identity  of 
aspiration  and  interest,  both  in  things  ma- 
terial and  in  things  higher,  which  with  us 
must  be  wide-spread  through  the  masses  of 
our  people  if  our  national  life  is  to  attain 
full  development.  This  spirit  of  brother- 
hood recognizes  of  necessity  both  the  need 
of  self-help  and  also  the  need  of  helping 
others  in  the  only  way  which  ever  ulti- 
mately does  great  good,  that  is,  of  helping 
them  to  help  themselves.  Every  man  of  us 
needs  such  help  at  some  time  or  other,  and 
each  of  us  should  be  glad  to  stretch  out 
his  hand  to  a brother  who  stumbles.  But 
while  every  man  needs  at  times  to  be  lifted 
up  when  he  stumbles,  no  man  can  afford  to  let 
himself  be  carried,  and  it  is  worth  no  man’s 
while  to  try  thus  to  carry  some  one  else. 
The  man  who  lies  down,  who  will  not  try  to 
walk,  has  become  a mere  cumberer  of  the 
earth’s  surface. 

These  associations  of  yours  try  to  make 
men  self-helpful  and  to  help  them  when  they 
are  self-helpful. . They  do  not  try  merely  to 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


323 


carry  tliem,  to  benefit  tbem  for  the  moment 
at  the  cost  of  their  future  undoing.  This 
means  that  all  in  any  way  connected  with 
them  not  merely  retain  but  increase  their 
self-respect.  Any  man  who  takes  part  in  the 
work  of  such  an  organization  is  benefited  to 
some  extent  and  benefits  the  community  to 
some  extent — of  course,  always  with  the 
proviso  that  the  organization  is  well  man- 
aged and  is  run  on  a business  basis,  as  well 
as  with  a philanthropic  purpose. 

The  feeling  of  brotherhood  is  necessarily 
as  remote  from  a patronizing  spirit,  on  the 
one  hand,  as  from  a spirit  of  envy  and 
mabce,  on  the  other.  The  best  work  for  our 
uplifting  must  be  done  by  ourselves,  and 
yet  with  brotherly  kindness  for  our  neigh- 
bor. In  such  work,  and  therefore  in  the 
kind  of  work  done  by  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Associations,  we  all  stand  on  the 
self-respecting  basis  of  mutual  benefit  and 
common  effort.  All  of  us  who  take  part  in 
any  such  work,  in  whatever  measure,  both 
receive  and  confer  benefits.  This  is  true 
of  the  founder  and  giver,  and  it  is  no 
less  true  of  every  man  who  takes  ad- 
vantage of  what  the  founder  and  giver  have 
done.  These  bodies  make  us  all  realize  how 
much  we  have  in  common,  and  how  much 
we  can  do  when  we  work  in  common.  I 
doubt  if  it  is  possible  to  overestimate  the 


324 


CHEISTIAJSr  CITIZENSHIP 


good  done  by  the  mere  fact  of  association 
with  a common  interest  and  for  a common 
end,  and  when  the  common  interest  is  high 
and  the  common  end  peculiarly  worthy,  the 
good  done  is  of  course  many  times  increased. 

Besides  developing  this  sense  of  brother- 
hood, the  feeling  which  breeds  respect  both 
for  one’s  self  and  for  others,  your  associa- 
tions have  a peculiar  value  in  showing  what 
can  be  done  by  acting  in  combination  with- 
out aid  from  the  state.  While  on  the  one 
hand  it  has  become  evident  that  under  the 
conditions  of  modern  life  we  cannot  allow  an 
unlimited  individualism  which  may  work 
harm  to  the  community,  it  is  no  less  evi- 
dent that  the  sphere  of  the  state’s  action 
should  be  extended  very  cautiously,  and  so 
far  as  possible  only  where  it  will  not  crush 
out  healthy  individual  initiative.  Voluntary 
action  by  individuals  in  the  form  of  associa- 
tions of  any  kind  for  mutual  betterment  or 
mutual  advantage  often  offers  a way  to  avoid 
alike  the  dangers  of  state  control  and  the 
dangers  of  excessive  individualism.  This 
is  particularly  true  of  efforts  for  that  most 
important  of  all  forms  of  betterment,  moral 
betterment  — the  moral  betterment  which 
usually  brings  material  betterment  in  its 
train. 

It  is  only  in  this  way,  by  all  of  us  work- 
ing together  in  a spirit  of  brotherhood,  by 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


325 


each  doing  his  part  for  the  betterment  of 
himself  and  of  others,  that  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  solve  the  tremendous  problems 
with  which  as  a nation  we  are  now  con- 
fronted. Our  industrial  life  has  become  so 
complex,  its  rate  of  movement  so  very  rapid, 
and  the  specialization  and  differentiation  so 
intense  that  we  find  ourselves  face  to  face 
with  conditions  that  were  practically  un- 
known in  this  nation  half  a century  ago. 
The  power  of  the  forces  of  evil  has  been 
greatly  increased,  and  it  is  necessary  for 
our  self-preservation  that  we  should  simi- 
larly strengthen  the  forces  for  good.  We 
are  all  of  us  bound  to  work  toward  this  end. 
No  one  of  us  can  do  everything,  but  each  of 
us  can  do  something,  and  if  we  work  together 
the  aggregate  of  these  somethings  will  be 
very  considerable. 

There  are,  of  course,  a thousand  different 
ways  in  which  the  work  can  be  done,  and 
each  man  must  choose  as  his  tastes  and  his 
powers  bid  him,  if  he  is  to  do  the  best  of 
which  he  is  capable.  But  all  the  kinds  of 
work  must  be  carried  along  on  certain  defi- 
nite lines  if  good  is  to  come.  All  the  work 
must  be  attempted  as  on  the  whole  this 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  work  has 
been  done,  that  is,  in  a spirit  of  good  will 
toward  all  and  not  of  hatred  toward  some ; 
in  a spirit  in  which  to  broad  charity  for 


326 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


mankind  there  is  added  a keen  and  healthy 
sanity  of  mind.  We  must  retain  our  self- 
respect,  each  and  all  of  us,  and  we  must  be- 
ware alike  of  mushy  sentimentality  and  of 
envy  and  hatred. 

It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  for  me 
to  warn  you  against  mere  sentimentality, 
against  the  philanthropy  and  charity  which 
are  not  merely  insufficient  but  harmful.  It 
is  eminently  desirable  that  we  should  none 
of  us  be  hard-hearted,  but  it  is  no  less  desir- 
able that  we  should  not  be  soft-headed.  I 
really  do  not  know  which  quality  is  most 
productive  of  evil  to  mankind  in  the  long 
run,  hardness  of  heart  or  softness  of  head. 
Naked  charity  is  not  what  we  permanently 
want.  There  are  of  course  certain  classes, 
such  as  young  children,  widows  with  large 
families,  or  crippled  or  very  aged  people,  or 
even  strong  men  temporarily  crushed  by 
stunning  misfortune,  on  whose  behalf  we  may 
have  to  make  a frank  and  direct  appeal  to 
charity,  and  who  can  be  the  recipients  of  it 
without  any  loss  of  self-respect.  But  taking 
us  as  a whole,  taking  the  mass  of  Americans, 
we  do  not  want  charity,  we  do  not  want 
sentimentality;  we  merely  want  to  learn 
how  to  act  both  individually  and  together 
in  such  fashion  as  to  enable  us  to  hold  our 
own  in  the  world,  to  do  good  to  others  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  our  opportunities. 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


327 


and  to  receive  good  from  others  in  ways 
which  will  not  entail  on  our  part  any  loss  of 
self-respect. 

It  ought  to  be  unnecessary  to  say  that 
any  man  who  tries  to  solve  the  great  prob- 
lems that  confront  us  by  an  appeal  to  anger 
and  passion,  to  ignorance  and  folly,  to  malice 
and  envy,  is  not,  and  never  can  be,  aught 
but  an  enemy  of  the  very  people  he  pro- 
fesses to  befriend.  In  the  words  of  Lowell, 
it  is  far  safer  to  adopt  “ All  men  up  ” than 
“ Some  men  down  ” for  a motto.  Speaking 
broadly,  we  cannot  in  the  long  run  benefit 
one  man  by  the  downfall  of  another.  Our 
energies,  as  a rule,  can  be  employed  to  much 
better  advantage  in  uplifting  some  than  in 
pulling  down  others.  Of  course  there  must 
sometimes  be  pulling  down,  too.  We  have 
no  business  to  blink  evils,  and  where  it  is 
necessary  that  the  knife  should  be  used,  let 
it  be  used  unsparingly,  but  let  it  be  used 
intelligently.  When  there  is  need  of  a 
drastic  remedy,  apply  it,  Init  do  not  apply 
it  in  the  spirit  of  hate.  Normally  a pound 
of  construction  is  worth  a ton  of  destruction. 

There  is  degradation  to  us  if  we  feel  envy  ! 
and  malice  and  hatred  toward  our  neighbor  ' 
for  any  cause ; and  if  we  envy  him  merely 
his  riches,  we  show  we  have  ourselves  low 
ideals.  Money  is  a good  thing.  It  is  a 
foolish  affectation  to  deny  it.  But  it  is  not 


328 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


the  only  good  thing,  and  after  a certain 
amount  has  been  amassed  it  ceases  to  be 
the  chief  even  of  material  good  things.  It 
is  far  better,  for  instance,  to  do  well  a bit 
of  work  which  is  well  worth  doing,  than  to 
have  a large  fortune.  I do  not  care  whether 
this  work  is  that  of  an  engineer  on  a great 
railroad,  or  captain  of  a fishing-boat,  or  fore- 
man in  a factory  or  machine-shop,  or  section 
boss,  or  division  chief,  or  assistant  astrono- 
mer in  an  observatory,  or  a second  lieuten- 
ant somewhere  in  China  or  the  Philippines — 
each  has  an  important  piece  of  work  to  do, 
and  if  he  is  really  interested  in  it,  and  has 
the  right  stuff  in  him,  he  will  be  altogether 
too  proud  of  what  he  is  doing,  and  too  in- 
tent on  doing  it  well,  to  waste  his  time  in 
envying  others. 

From  the  days  when  the  chosen  people 
received  the  Decalogue  to  our  own,  envy 
and  malice  have  been  recognized  as  evils, 
and  woe  to  those  who  appeal  to  them.  To 
break  the  Tenth  Commandment  is  no  more 
moral  now  than  it  has  been  for  the  past 
thirty  centuries.  The  vice  of  envy  is  not 
only  a dangerous  but  also  a mean  vice,  for 
it  is  always  a confession  of  inferiority.  It 
may  provoke  conduct  which  will  be  fruitful 
of  wrong-doing  to  others,  and  it  must  cause 
misery  to  the  man  who  feels  it.  It  will  not 
be  any  the  less  fruitful  of  wrong  and  misery 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


329 


if,  as  is  SO  often  the  case  with  evil  motives, 
it  adopts  some  high-sounding  alias.  The 
truth  is  that  each  one  of  us  has  in  him  cer- 
tain passions  and  instincts  which  if  they 
gained  the  upper  hand  in  his  soul  would 
mean  that  the  wild  beast  had  come  upper- 
most in  him.  Envy,  malice,  and  hatred  are 
such  passions,  and  they  are  just  as  bad  if 
directed  against  a class  or  group  of  men  as 
if  directed  against  an  individual.  What  we 
need  in  our  leaders  and  teachers  is  help  in 
suppressing  such  feelings,  help  in  arousing 
and  directing  the  feelings  that  are  their  ex- 
treme opposites.  Woe  to  us  as  a nation  if 
we  ever  follow  the  lead  of  men  who  seek 
not  to  smother  but  to  inflame  the  wild-beast 
qualities  of  the  human  heart!  In  social 
and  industrial  no  less  than  in  political  re- 
form we  can  do  healthy  work,  work  fit  for 
a free  republic,  fit  for  self-governing  democ- 
racy, only  by  treading  in  the  footsteps  of 
Washington  and  Franklin  and  Adams  and 
Patrick  Henry,  and  not  in  the  steps  of 
Marat  and  Eobespierre. 

So  far,  what  I have  had  to  say  has  dealt 
mainly  with  our  relations  to  one  another 
in  what  may  be  called  the  service  of  the 
state.  But  the  basis  of  good  citizenship  is 
the  home.  A man  must  be  a good  son, 
husband,  and  father,  a woman  a good 
daughter,  wife,  and  mother,  first  and  fore- 


330 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


most.  There  must  be  no  shirking  of  duties 
in  big  things  or  in  little  things.  The  man 
who  will  not  work  hard  for  his  wife  and  his 
little  ones,  the  woman  who  shrinks  from 
bearing  and  rearing  many  healthy  children, 
these  have  no  place  among  the  men  and 
women  who  are  striving  upward  and  on- 
ward. Of  course  the  family  is  the  founda- 
tion of  all  things  in  the  state.  Sins  against 
pure  and  healthy  family  life  are  those  which 
of  all  others  are  sure  in  the  end  to  be  visited 
most  heavily  upon  the  nation  in  which  they 
take  place.  We  must  beware,  moreover,  not 
merely  of  the  great  sins,  but  of  the  lesser 
ones  which  when  taken  together  cause  such 
an  appalling  aggregate  of  misery  and  wrong. 
The  drunkard,  the  lewd  liver,  the  coward, 
the  liar,  the  dishonest  man,  the  man  who  is 
brutal  to  or  neglectful  of  parents,  wife,  or 
children  — of  all  of  these  the  shrift  should 
be  short  when  we  speak  of  decent  citizen- 
ship. Every  ounce  of  effort  for  good  in 
your  associations  is  part  of  the  ceaseless 
war  against  the  traits  which  produce  such 
men.  But  in  addition  to  condemning  the 
grosser  forms  of  evil  we  must  not  forget  to 
condemn  also  the  evils  of  bad  temper,  lack 
of  gentleness,  nagging  and  whining  fretful- 
ness, lack  of  consideration  for  others — the 
evils  of  selfishness  in  all  its  myriad  forms. 
Each  man  or  woman  must  remember  his  or 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


331 


her  duty  to  all  around,  and  especially  to  those 
closest  and  nearest,  and  such  remembrance 
is  the  best  possible  preparation  for  doing 
duty  for  the  state  as  a whole. 

We  ask  that  these  associations,  and  the 
men  and  women  who  take  part  in  them, 
practise  the  Christian  doctrines  which  are 
preached  from  every  true  pulpit.  The  Dec- 
alogue and  the  Golden  Eule  must  stand  as 
the  foundation  of  every  successful  effort  to 
better  either  our  social  or  our  political  life. 
“ Fear  the  Lord  and  walk  in  his  ways  ” and 
“Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself” — when  we 
practise  these  two  precepts,  the  reign  of 
social  and  civic  righteousness  will  be  close 
at  hand.  Christianity  teaches  not  only  that 
each  of  us  must  so  live  as  to  save  his  own 
soul,  but  that  each  must  also  strive  to  do 
his  whole  duty  by  his  neighbor.  We  cannot 
live  up  to  these  teachings  as  we  should ; for 
in  the  presence  of  infinite  might  and  infinite 
wisdom,  the  strength  of  the  strongest  man 
is  but  weakness,  and  the  keenest  of  mor- 
tal eyes  see  but  dimly.  But  each  of  us 
can  at  least  strive,  as  light  and  strength  are 
given  him,  toward  the  ideal.  Effort  along 
any  one  line  will  not  suffice.  We  must  not 
only  be  good,  but  strong.  We  must  not  only 
be  high-minded,  but  brave-hearted.  We  must 
think  loftily,  and  we  must  also  work  hard. 
It  is  not  written  in  the  Holy  Book  that  we 


332 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 


must  merely  be  harmless  as  doves.  It  is 
also  written  that  we  must  be  wise  as  ser- 
pents. Craft  unaccompanied  by  conscience 
makes  the  crafty  man  a social  wdd  beast 
who  preys  on  the  community  and  must  be 
hunted  out  of  it.  Gentleness  and  sweetness 
unbacked  by  strength  and  high  resolve  are 
almost  impotent  for  good. 

The  true  Christian  is  the  true  citizen,  lofty 
of  purpose,  resolute  in  endeavor,  ready  for 
a hero’s  deeds,  but  never  looking  down  on 
his  task  because  it  is  cast  in  the  day  of  small 
things;  scornful  of  baseness,  awake  to  his 
own  duties  as  well  as  to  his  rights,  following 
the  higher  law  with  reverence,  and  in  this 
world  doing  all  that  in  him  lies,  so  that 
when  death  comes  he  may  feel  that  mankind 
is  in  some  degree  better  because  he  has 
lived. 


■ /: 


( 


Date  due 


■J' 


K7 


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308 


R7S1S 


15795 


